Ouestions and Answers 




COVERING 



THE HISTORY Of 



ENGLAND 



AND THE CAUSES OF THE 
WORLD WAR 



BY 



PROF. JAMES B. TAYLOR, A. M. 

Head of His«x,rv Department in Huntingtcn School 
No Lheastem College 



SUPPLEMENTARY TO 



THE WORLD'S HISTORY AT A GLANCE 



THE BALL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

BOSTON, MASS. 




Class 
Book. 



7 

"5 



Copyright)} — 



COPYRIGHT DEFOSm 



mmmm///mmmiimBm?Mmmm<<m m 



Questions and Answers 



COVERING 



THE HISTORY OP 



ENGLAND 



AND THE CAUSES OF THE 
WORLD WAR 

BY 

PROF. JAMES B. TAYLOR, A. M. 

Head of History Department in Huntington School 
Northeastern College 



SUPPLEMENTARY TO 



THE WORLD'S HISTORY AT A GLANCE 



THE BALL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

BOSTON, MASS. 




F-RAHCE. 



Copyright, 1917. by The Ball Publishing Company 



SEP -I 1917 J tu$ / 



/XjV 



f\ 









The British Empire 



The British Empire is composed of the United King- 
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Empire of India, 
and the British " Dominions beyond the Seas." 

Great Britain comprises the Kingdoms of England 
(including Wales) and Scotland, which were united in 
1603 on the accession to the English throne of James 
VI of Scotland, who as a descendant of Henry VII was the 
heir presumptive at the death of Queen Elizabeth. 

India, as defined by parliament, comprises " all that part 
of the great Indian peninsula which is directly or in- 
directly under British rule or protection," but in a popular 
sense it includes certain countries beyond that area, 
such as Nepal. Under the Royal Titles Act (1876) the 
King of Great Britain and Ireland has the additional title 
of Emperor of India. 

The dominions beyond the sea comprise colonies, 
protectorates, and dependencies so scattered over the 
face of the earth that it is the proud boast of the empire 
that its reveille call is a continuous roll of drumbeats 
around the globe and that " the sun never sets upon the 
English flag." 

While the area of the United Kingdom is only 121,633 
square miles and its European possessions, Malta and 
Gibralter, only 119 square miles, the British Empire com- 
prises, roughly figured, one-eighth of Asia, over one- 
fourth of Africa, nine-tenths of Australasia and Oceanica 
and more than one-fourth of the area of the American 
continent, north and south. Out of a total land area of the 
globe of about 52,000,000 square miles, the British pos- 
sessions amount to 12,808,944 square miles, or one-quarter 
of the world; and of an estimated world population of 
about 1,700,000,000, about 440,000,000, are British 
subjects. 

The Government of Great Britain is a limited constitu- 
tional monarchy, its reigning king and emperor being 
King George V, born June 3, 1865, the second son of King 
Edward VII (then Prince of Wales) and grandson of Queen 
Victoria. He succeeded to the throne on the death of his 






4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

father May 6, 1910. On his father's side he is first 
cousin to the German Kaiser and to the Queens of Spain 
and Roumania and to the Tsarina of Russia; on his 
mother's side he bears the same relationship to the Tsar 
of Russia and the Kings of Greece, Norway and Denmark, 
and his sister is Queen of Norway. 

King George was married, July 6, 1893, to the Princess 
Victoria Mary of Teck (Queen Mary). 

The support of the royal family is provided after the 
commencement of each reign by the settlement of the 
Civil Service list under a special act of Parliament. In 
the'present reign the civil list of the king (after surrender- 
ing hereditary revenues) is £470,000 divided as follows: 
Privy Purse of King and Queen £110,000 

Salaries of Royal Household, etc. 125,800 

Household Expenses, 193,000 

Works 20,000 

Alms and Bounty 13,200 

Unappropriated 8,000 

Special provisions are also made for the children of the 
king and his immediate relatives. The king also re- 
ceives revenues from the Duchy of Lancaster which in 
1914 amounted to £61,000. 

The influence of the British monarch may be very 
important both in legislation and foreign relations, but 
his actual power is probably less than that of any other 
existing monarch. The veto power which originally 
was possessed by the sovereign has not been exercised 
since the reign of Queen Anne (1702-14), custom having 
decreed that the sovereign must sanction every law passed 
by Parliament. 

The last attempts at personal rule by a British monarch 
were during the reign of George III (1760-1820) and the 
loss of the American colonies by revolt from his tyranny 
marked as well the achievement of political freedom 
within the Kingdom of Great Britain as for the United 
States. 

The King of Great Britain is today only a business 
manager for the empire. The prime minister with his 
cabinet has the power even to remodel the sovereign's 
household to whatever degree they may decide. Queen 
Victoria was obliged in 1841 to consent to an undesired 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 5 

change in her mistress of the robes and her consort, 
Prince Albert, could not appoint his own private secretary 
but had to accept one appointed by the prime minister. 

Constitution and Government 

The supreme legislative power of the British Empire 
is vested in its Parliament, which is composed of two 
Houses of Legislation, the Lords and the Commons. A 
parliament is called together by the king, under a writ 
which must be issued at least thirty-five days previous 
to its assembling. It may be dissolved by the king, 
or during a recess by proclamation, or finally by lapse 
of time; an act of parliament in 1911 having made the 
present limit five years. During the life of a parliament 
it holds annual sessions, usually from the middle of Febru- 
ary to about the middle of August, and each session ends 
with a prorogation. But under any stress of national 
emergency it can reassemble at any time, as in the out- 
break of the European war when Parliament began 
its 1915 session in November, 1914. 

•The supremacy of the legislative power of parliament 
is jealously and rigidly protected both by the constitu- 
tion and by custom. A law passed by Parliament is 
absolute until amended or restored by another parlia- 
ment. The king dare not veto it, the courts have no 
power to pass upon its "constitutionality" (as in the 
United States) and the cabinet (the real executive 
power) must always be in substantial harmony with the 
majority in the House of Commons. Thus no conflict 
between the will of the people's representatives and that 
of executive, such as frequently exists in the United States 
when the majority in congress is of a different political 
faith from that of the president and his cabinet, can ever 
obtain in England. 

The House of Lords consists of peers (noblemen of 
the rank of baron and above) who hold their seats by 
hereditary right, by creation of the sovereign, by virtue 
of their office (Law Lords and English bishops and arch- 
bishops) by election for life (Irish peers) or by election 
for the duration of parliament (Scottish peers). In 1914 
the total of these classes was 641 of whom 26 were " Lords 
Spiritual." Besides these, there were 19 peeresses and 



6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

3 Scottish peeresses and 19 Scottish and 59 Irish peers 
who are not peers of parliament. The peers of the realm 
own a large part of the land of England. They possess 
a limited veto power to bills passed by the House of 
Commons but, under the changes in the constitution 
made by the Parliament Act of 1911, this power was 
greatly decreased so that today on all the most important 
matters of legislation the House of Lords is almost a 
negligible quantity. A money bill passed by the House 
of Commons and sent up to the Lords at least one month 
before the end of the session becomes law a month after 
being sent up regardless of how the House of Lords 
may deal with it. 

A bill not a money bill passed by the Commons in 
three successive sessions (whether or not of the same 
parliament), even if rejected in each of these sessions 
by the Lords, becomes a law provided two years have 
elapsed between -the date of the second reading in the 
first of these sessions and ' the date on which it passed 
the Commons on the third of the sessions. 

The House of Commons, the actual ruling power of 
the British Empire, consists (in 1915) of 670 members 
representing county, borough, and university constit- 
uencies in England, Scotland and Ireland. The table on 
page seven shows the distribution of membership as well 
as the number of electors for each section and class. 

The following classes are disqualified from membership, 
viz.: clergymen belonging to the Church of England, 
the Church of Scotland or the Roman Catholic Church; 
government contractors, sheriffs and returning officers 
(for the localities in which they act) ; English, Scottish 
or Irish peers (excepting Irish peers who have no seat 
in the House of Lords) and minors under twenty-one 
years of age. 

No compensation was paid to members of the House 
of Commons as such until the Act of 1911, which provided 
a salary of £400 for each member except those already 
in receipt of a salary as ministers or officers either of the 
king's household or the House of Commons itself. 

Residence in a constituency is not essential for election 
to the House of Commons. Many of the greatest states- 
men have been frequently elected to represent sections 
far distant from their habitation. 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 



m 



-2 




■*p OiUi 
CO O t~ 

« »<* 

l^ 00 o 
t- 00 fr- 
CC* 


X 

-!- 
CO 

«a 

80 

» 




Hi ©*so 

"* I-H 


3 
90 


1 

§ 

b 

S 

o 


3 


80 O00 

« ss 

rH CO>p 




s 


«5 0*<X 


o> 


05 
>« 

s 

o 

o 
153 

§ 

o 


1 


SO CO CO 

r-4 000* 

i-j phso 

CO 10 8(" 
l> K5SI 

t- eo,-* 


O* 
90 

B0 


s 


fr- i-i CO 

SO WH 

ex 


*P 

a 


8 
1 

§ 

1 


£ 

3 


oo eo^ 

(X ~ r-t 

oo t-^o 

so eo»o 

fr- O i> 

OS »0 «5 

so 


<x 

5 

M3 


£ 
S 


SO C5 «5 
>o SO 00 
CX 








England, including 

Wales 
Scotland 
Ireland 


l 



i-l CO -P ° 






8 . HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

The Executive Government of the British Empire is 
only nominally vested in the sovereign. Its real power 
is in the cabinet, consisting of ministers appointed by 
the king, but the cabinet is always substantially in har- 
mony with the ruling majority in the House of Commons. 
The members of the cabinet, contrary to the custom 
in the United States, are entitled to seats in either the 
House of Commons or House of Lords (according to 
their station). Thus all measures of government policy 
are sure of being introduced into parliament and when- 
ever .any government bill is rejected by a decisive vote 
the cabinet resign and the king appoints a new body 
of ministers. 

As a resignation of the cabinet always follows a vote 
definitely showing want of confidence in the executive 
it will be seen that this virtually compels the king to 
choose ministers who will work in accord with the popular 
will. The king, indeed, does not have much latitude 
of choice in the personnel of his cabinet. He appoints 
the prime minister, who usually takes the office of First 
Lord of the Treasury, and for this position almost always 
selects the leader of the majority party in parliament. 
The prime minister then recommends to the king the 
colleagues he desires to be appointed. 

While the members of the cabinet are usually taken 
from the majority party and from those who are most 
in harmony with the prime minister's policies, in times 
of national emergency a " coalition " cabinet may be 
made up regardless of party affiliations. 

Citizenship. There is no imperial citizenship in Great 
Britain, for there is strictly speaking no imperial govern- 
ment. The bestowal of the privileges of a British sub- 
ject upon an alien is effected by the authority of a colonial 
government or of the United Kingdom of Great Britain 
and Ireland. If granted by a colony it applies only 
within that colony in which the naturalization takes 
place. An alien naturalized in Canada ceases to be a 
British subject when he goes out of Canada, whether 
he remains in the British Empire or goes outside of its 
jurisdiction. An American naturalized in Canada would 
in such case revert to his American citizenship unless it 
had been forfeited by American laws, in which case he 
would be without a country until he returned to Canada 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 9 

or regained new citizenship elsewhere. The question of 
the validity in other parts of the empire of citizenship 
granted by naturalization under the laws of the United 
Kingdom has never been tested but it does not give 
the right of admission to any dominion outside the United 
Kingdom, as no British subject is free to migrate from 
one part of the empire unless he can satisfy the require- 
ments of the local immigration laws. Under this principle 
British Columbia was able recently to avoid a serious 
" cheap labor " menace caused by the attempted im- 
migration of large numbers of Hindoo British subjects 
who were compelled to return to India. 

The Franchise in the United Kingdom is very com- 
plicated and there are many different kinds of franchises. 
It is based on property qualifications, although these 
have now been made so broad that tenants, lodgers, 
and servants not living in the same house with their 
employers are admitted to vote provided the yearly 
rental value of their lodging is £10 ($50). In England 
the holding of an estate in freehold of an annual value 
of 40 shillings ($7.60) is sufficient, but this does not ob- 
tain in Scotland or Ireland. Lands held in life tenure 
of annual value of £5 in England, or in Scotland and 
Ireland of £10; land held on lease of at least 60 years 
(in Scotland for 57 years) to the same relative values; 
or leases of at least 20 years of annual value of £50 (in 
Scotland 19 years at £50 and in Ireland 14 years at £20) 
give the voting right. Occupation of a tenement rated 
for the support of the poor upon which rates have been 
paid constitutes a qualification throughout the Kingdom 
in counties, limited, however, in England and Scotland 
by provision as to actual residence therein. The pro- 
vision for lodgers has been mentioned above and there 
are several old franchises dependent upon membership 
in certain chartered companies and the six University 
Constituencies admit graduates of the respective uni- 
versities to the roll of election. The above provisions 
relate to qualifications for parliamentary elections. 

All electors must be of full age (21 years) and registered 
in the voting lists. The following are disqualified for 
registration; infants, idiots, lunatics, persons who have 
received poor relief within a year, bankrupts, aliens, 
and women; although single or widowed women are 



10 HISTORY OP ENGLAND 

eligible to vote in municipal elections. A married woman 
is not entitled to vote at any election as she is supposed 
to be represented in the franchise by her husband. On 
similar reasoning a servant or employee may only vote 
■when he lives apart from his employer. About one- 
sixth of the population are electors. Voting at all elec- 
tions is by ballot. 

Local Government. England and Wales are divided 
for this purpose into 62 administrative counties (including 
the County of London) which do not coincide with the 
geographical divisions. Each administrative county has 
its own county council, elected for three-year term by 
popular vote. Aldermen's terms are for six years, half 
of them expiring every third year. Women are eligible 
to hold offices in counties or municipalities. 

The jurisdiction of the county councils includes local 
taxation (rates) borrowing money, management of public 
buildings, licensing of amusements, maintenance of 
county institutions and public works and the regulation 
of fees of officers, licenses, weights and measures and 
public health provisions. They are also the local educa- 
tion authorities and through a standard committee com- 
posed of an equal number of magistrates and county 
councilmen control their local police forces. 

With the exception of the County of London the ad- 
ministrative counties are subdivided into county dis- 
tricts, which may be "urban" (municipal) or "rural." 
These divisions have their district council for the ad- 
ministration of municipal or rural affairs. Generally 
speaking each rural district comprises several country 
parishes, each of which has its parish meeting at which 
every parochial member may vote. If the parish has 
over 300 members it has a parish council. Women can 
hold office in all these branches of local government. 

In the great towns, including county boroughs, local 
business is administered by a municipal corporation 
which derives its authority from a charter from the 
crown. The main central authority in London, how- 
ever, is the county council created by the local govern- 
ment of 1888. 

National Defense. The Committee of Imperial De- 
fense under the presidency of the prime minister usually 
consists of the Secretaries for Foreign Affairs, War, 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 11 

the Colonies and India ; the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
First Lord of Admiralty together with the Chief of the 
Imperial General Staff, First Sea Lord, Director of Naval 
Intelligence, Director of Military Operations. Other 
officials may from time to time be included. At present 
of course it includes the newly created Minister of 
Munitions. 

The Army is obtained entirely by voluntary enlistment 
though owing to the exigencies of the war, conscription 
is being strongly urged and seems likely to be soon adopted 
as a method of securing needed forces. It is divided 
into the regular and territorial forces. A large part' of 
the regular army serves in the dominions beyond the sea 
and these forces are what is generally known as the 
British army, as distinguished from native or local forces 
in the various dependencies. The regular army is paid 
from the imperial exchequer (except in India) although 
certain colonies contribute toward its maintenance. In 
peace it consists of the permanent troops, the army 
reserve and the special reserve. Service is under an 
enlistment for 12 years, of which 3 to 9 years are spent 
" with the colors " and the remainder in the army re- 
serve. Under satisfactory conditions this service may be 
extended to 21 years. Enlistment is allowed between the 
ages of 18 and 25. 

The special reserve was created out of the militia in 
1907 and is available for service abroad in time of war. 
Its period of service is 6 years with re-enlistment for 
4-year terms or into the permanent forces. 

On mobilization for war the bulk of the regular army 
at home becomes absorbed into an " Expeditionary 
Force," including all branches of the service and totaling 
about 165,000. 

The territorial army is organized for home defense, 
although nearly 20,000 men had accepted liability for 
services abroad. Its age limits for enlistment are from 
17 to 35 inclusive, and the enlistment term is 4 years. 
All officers except certain generals and staff are non- 
professional, and it is confined to Great Britain, Ireland 
having none. 

In the size of its army prior to the outbreak of the 
war, Great Britain ranked sixth among the nations of 
the world with approximately 400,000 men on peace 



12 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

footing, of whom 134,000 were navy; of the remainder 
186,000 men were in Europe and 80,000 men in India, 
while on war footing it aggregated 1,000,000 men with 
volunteers. It was exceeded by the armies of Russia, 
Germany, France, Austria-Hungary and Italy. Since 
the outbreak of the war it has, of course, been impossible 
to get accurate figures showing the actual forces in the 
field. Not only has enormous enlistment taken place 
throughout the United Kingdom, but colonies and domin- 
ions abroad have contributed large bodies of troops to 
the defense of the empire. 

The original army estimates for 1914-15 gave 747,141 
of all ranks exclusive of 75,896 regular forces in India 
and required an appropriation of £28,845,000. Three 
supplementary votes of credit totaling £362,000,000 
have increased the estimated number of forces by 2,186,- 
400 men. 

Mr. Asquith's statement that there were about 3,000,000 
men on duty in the British regular army is the best 
statistic available and this does not include troops sent 
by Australia, Canada and other " Dominions beyond 
the Seas." 

In 1914 the territorial force enrolled was 312,000 men 
with an actual strength of about 250,000. On the out- 
break of the war this enrollment was doubled and the 
force recruited up to full strength. The special reserve 
which was 80,120 has been largely augmented and used 
mainly to supply officers and men to the regular battalions 
in the field. 

An important addition to the army has been the re- 
organization of the Royal Flying Club into a branch of 
the service, but no details as to the number of aeroplanes 
or aviators are accessible. 

The Navy. While Britain's army has been small 
and to a great extent she was unprepared for the great 
war, her navy has long been by far the largest and most 
powerful in the world. The best estimates that can 
be given are those prepared for 1914-15 before the war 
began, bearing in mind that while no data about new 
war craft has been given out the manufacture everywhere 
has been greatly accelerated and increased. 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
Summary of British Fleet 



13 



Complete by End of 



Class 


1913 


1914 


1915 


Super Dreadnaughts 1 


11 


16 


23 


Dreadnaughts 2 


15 


15 


16 


Pre-Dreadnaught Battleships 


40 


40 


38 


Cruisers 


50 


50 


44 


Light Cruisers 


68 


76 


84 


Torpedo Gunboats 


18 


18 


18 


Sloops, Gunboats, etc 


17 


23 


23 


Destroyers 


about 228 


248 


262 


Torpedo Boats 3 


about 100 


100 


? 


Submarines 


about 77 


85 


? 



1 Carrying guns of or over 13.5 inch. 2 No distinction is made 
between battleships and cruisers of this class as a cruiser is only a swifter 
battleship. There is also one Australian dreadnaught. including 
coastal destroyers and many old torpedo boats. 

By statistics compiled from press reports up to July 
27, 1915, we are informed that the total of British war- 
ships destroyed has been 39, with tonnage of 243,797 
and value of $87,129,500. 

National Insurance and Old Age Pension. By recent 
acts of parliament provision has been made for com- 
pulsory insurance against loss of health for the preven- 
tion and cure of sickness, and for compulsory insurance 
against unemployment. Health insurance is adminis- 
tered by insurance commissioners and by various socie- 
ties. Insured persons who are not members of an 
approved society must contribute to a post office fund 
and are known as deposit contributors. The funds are 
contributed by the employer (threepence, 6c, per week 
per employed person), the worker (fourpence, -8c, per 
week) and the state. Contributions cease at the age of 
70, when the Old Age Pension Act comes into play. The 
benefits include medical treatment, sanitarium, payments 
during sickness, and for women a payment of 30 shillings 
(about $7.25) on confinement. 

Unemployment insurance is administered by the 
Board of Trade through labor exchanges. It now covers 
only a few trades but may be extended by the Board 
of Trade. The funds are provided by the employer 
and the workmen (each 23^2 pence per week), and the 



14 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

state which gives one-third of the total contribution 
for workman and employer. It gives a benefit of a 
weekly payment for a limited number of weeks during 
unemployment '. 

Under the Old Age Pension Acts every person over 
70 years who is a British subject and has resided 12 
years out of the preceding 20 years in the United King- 
dom and whose yearly means do not exceed £31- 10s 
(about $150) is entitled to a pension with certain ex- 
ceptions to bar out the undeserving or those who are 
receiving other aid. The weekly pension is five shillings 
($1.20), with a pro-rata decrease in the case of those 
receiving more than a specified amount of income. On 
March 28, 1913, there were 967,921 pensions (363,811 
to men) payable in the United Kingdom. Of these about 
95 per cent were for the five shilling rate. 

There are, of course, a variety of statutes under the 
laws by which the usual relief is administered to paupers 
— either in their own houses or in government institu- 
tions built for the purpose. In 1912-13 £17,784,579 
(about $86,000,000) was expended in poor relief in the 
United Kingdom. 

Public Instruction. Among the European nations the 
United Kingdom stands high in number of institutions 
of higher education and in percentage of pupils in ele- 
mentary schools. She has 93 colleges (18 universities) 
with an average enrollment of 335 students to each college 
and one college to each half million of her population. 
She has 32,800 elementary schools with an attendance 
of 157 pupils to each 1000 of population. In elementary 
education sufficient school accommodation must be 
provided in every district for all resident children between 
the ages of 5 and 14 and provision is made for the com- 
pulsory education of defective children to the age of 16 
years. In. the year 1913 there were in England and Wales 
1010 secondary schools receiving grants from the Board 
of Education, with 174,423 pupils. This does not in- 
clude secondary schools recognized as efficient but not 
receiving grants from the state. 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 



15 



« a 

^ S 
a « 

:a 

o < 



Z o 
a u 
o 
U 



■J w 



s 
Eh 


CM CM 

CO -F 

oo eo 
© o" : 
eo 






CM 

O 


i as 

|| 

3 S 


OS 
CM 






© 
CM 

CO 
CM 


g p. 


© © © 
oo o to 

J~- cm •* 

00* JH 

O 50 
CM OS 


o 

CO 

CD 
© 


© 
© 

CO 
CO 
CO 

<s» 


3 
"3 


<S* • © 

eo ■ co 

-D ■ CM 

s i s 






CM 

CO 
00 

o 


s 


•*JI CO I-H CM ■* 

«5 t- O CM * 

Or-'* CM «> 

t-T © -* «? so 

© H 00 so 
cm eo r< 


© 


•2 
s 

05 


Si 2 : 

© -1 ; 
cm «o 






CO 

t> 

"* 

00 




CM K0 -h CO CO 
<C SO t- -f tO 

t~ © cm cm © 
-T C5 -f i-T cm 

CM CO r-l i-l © 
rH OS lO © '"J, 

h eo* «* co 


a 

°i 

00 

o 

CO 

a* 




;g ,_! r- 1C CM 

-# CM i— I t— ■* 
00 00 CM CM W 
rjT lO CM CM CC 

■o © m CO »o 

02 Oi C5 "C "T 

eo co h io eo 


a 
eo 

© 

CO 




2 .2 1 3 

W <J <3 <1 


a 

8 -2c 
cS s 


3 

- 

s 

T3 

a 

c8 



«.2 
IS m 



5 < 



c3<r< 
■0 o 
CO 5j 



10 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 



u o 



*3 H 



£ P 



W P3 






2 a £ 



o 
O 



as 


O o 
O o 
© © 

© 00 
00 © 

i-h © 








c 

39 
t- 

*! 

©> 


■ Si 
^ 8 

s s 


© 

© 

© 

00 

©* 










- 
sc 
i> 
eo 
a: 
>* 
a* 


II 
II 


© © © 
O O (34 

o o <* 

O? OO 00 

i-i © e* 

00 i-l -# 
CO i-h 


© 
© 

© 
© 
© 


0' 

OS 

CO 

«S 

c 
© 


■ as 


■>* 

00 

J> 

OS 

«s 
us 

© 


© 

© 
© 






c 
cc 

OS 

eo" 

b- 

0! 
CO 

M 


g 


© o eo o o 
o o -f o o 

«0 © ©* © i— 
r^ CO r-T © l-H 

© t~ oo >o 00 
© j> © ■* 

oT -f «5 

CO i-i 6* 


at 

«5 
t~ 
l> 

CO 

© 

X 


•2 


1 1 

o gg 








— 
c 
ec 

OS 

OS 

c > 


cq&q 


© © co co ^ 

© -f 2 -* o< 

^ « 3 °. t 

xfl .-I « CO CO 

-e< «> '- 1 •* © 

© t- rH ^< uj 

© eo - © © 

■*?©<&* r-i 
CO "5 


eo 
© 

© 
r> 

OS 
M 


"-S 3 g 

93 ft. © 


© © © © © 
© O © © © 
©< © © © © 
i-H J> »o © CO 
© i> 00 © CO 

«o © © © »o 

00 © ©f t> fC 

>C © «5 i> 

Tfl 00 i-H r-l 


s 

0' 

CO 

u5 

30 

co 




8, 

2 ca 


1 


2 

g-al 
•gtJ«3 


• S 3 
11 







HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

III. The British Empire — The United Kingdom 



17 





Area in 


How acquired 




Population 


Countries 


square 
miles 


by England 


Date 


as per Census 
of 1911 


England 
Ireland 


50,874 






34,045,290 


32,586 


Conquest 


1172 


4,390,219 


Wales 


7,466 


Conquest 


1282 


2,025,202 


Scotland 


30,405 


Union 


1603 


4,760,904 


Isle of Man and Channel 










Islands 


302 






148,915 


Total 


121,633 






45,370,530 


British Dominions 


Europe: 
Gibraltar 


2 


Treaty Cession 


1713 


20,000 


Malta and G070 


117 


Treaty Cession 


1814 


211,000 


America: 










Newfoundland and 










Labrador 


162,734 


Treaty Cession 


1583 


243,000 


Canada 

Prince Edward Island 


2,184 


Conquest 


1763 


94,000 


Nova Scotia 


21,428 


Conquest and 


1627- 








Cession 


1713 


492,500 


New Brunswick 


27,985 


Treaty Cession 


1763 


352,000 


Quebec 


706,834 


Conquest and 
Cession 


1759- 
1763 


2,003,000 


Ontario 


407,262 


Conquest and 


1759- 








Cession 


1763 


2,523,500 


Manitoba 


251,832 


Settlement 


1813 


455,000 


Saskatchewan 


251,700 


Settlement 


1670 


492,500 


Alberta 


255,285 


Settlement. 


1670 


375,000 


British Columbia 


355,855 


Settlement 


1670 


400,000 


Northwest Territories 


1,242,224 


Settlement 


1670 


17,200 


Yukon Territory 


207,076 


Settlement 


1670 


8,500 


West Indies 
Bermuda 


19 


Settlement 


1612 


19,000 


Bahamas 


4,404 


Settlement 


1629 


56,000 


Barbados 


166 


Settlement 


1605 


196,000 


Jamaica, Turks Island 










etc. 


4,462 


Conquest 


1655 


850,000 


Leeward Islands 


715 


Settlement 


1623- 
1659 


140,000 


Trinidad and Tobago 


1,974 


Conquest 


1797 


330,000 


Windward Islands 


672 


Cession 


1763- 
1783 


200,000 


Central America 










British Honduras 


8,598 


Conquest 


1798 


40,500 


South America 










British Guiana 


90,500 


Conquest and 


1803- 








Cession 


1814 


310,000 


Falkland Islands 


6,500 


Treaty Cession 


1771 


2.000 


South Georgia 


1,000 


Treaty Cession 


1771 


Uninhabited 



IS 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 





Area in 










square 


How acquired 






Countries 


miles 


by England 


Date 


Population 


Asia: 










Empire of India 


1,802,112 


Conquest 


1757- 
1897 


315,000,000 


Straits Settlements 


1,600 


Treaty Cession 


1785- 
1909 


700,000 


Aden, Perim, Socotia, 




r '- 






etc. 




Treaty Cession 


1905 


58,000 


Ceylon 


25,481 


Treaty Cession 


1801 


4,100,000 


Hongkong 


401 


Treaty Cession 


1842- 
1906 


440,000 


Sarawak 


42,000 


Treaty Cession 


1842 


650,000 


North Borneo 


31,106 


Cession 


1877 


204,000 


Cyprus 


3,584 


Treaty Cession 


1878 


275,000 


Federated Malay 


27,506 


Treaty Cession 


1874- 




States 






1888 


1 ,000,000 


Other Malay States 


24,600 


Treaty Cession 


1909 


800,000 


Brunei 


4,000 


Treaty Cession 


1888 


30,000 


Weihaiwei 


285 


Treaty Cession 


1898 


160,000 



Africa: 










Ascension 


34 


Occupation 


1815 


150 


St. Helena 


47 


Conquest 


1673 


3,500 


West Africa 










Nigeria (Northern and 










Southern) 


336,080 


Treaty Cession 


1891 


17,000,000 


Gold Coast 


80,235 


Treaty Cession 


1672 


1,400,000 


Sierra Leone 


24,908 


Treaty Cession 


1787 


1,100,000 


Gambia 3 


3,619 


Treaty Cession 


1807 


146,000 


Mauritius i 


809 


Conquest and 


1810- 




| 




Cession 


1814 


370,000 


Seychelles'"" 


156 


Treaty Cession 


1814 


23,000 


Somaliland 


68,000 


Treaty Cession 


1884 


300,000 


East Africa 


247,600 


Treaty Cession 


1888 


4,000,000 


Uganda 


121,437 


Treaty Cession 


1894 


2,500,000 


Zanzibar 


1,020 


Treaty Cession 


1890 


200,000 


Nyassaland 


39,315 


Treaty Cession 


1891 


1,000,000 


Rhodesia 


439,575 


Annexation 


1889* 


1,750,000 


Swaziland 


6,536 


Treaty Cession 


1894* 


1.100,000 


Union of South Africa 




Constituted by 






including the following 




Act of Parlia- 






colonies: 




ment, 1909 






Transvaal 


110,500 


Annexation 


1900 


1,686,000 


Orange Free State 


50,389 


Annexation 


1900 


529,000 


Cape Province 


277,000 


Treaty Cession 


1814 


2,565,000 


Natal 


35,295 


Annexation 


1843 


1,200,000 


Basutoland 


11,716 


Annexation 




350,000 


Bechuanaland 


275,000 


Annexation 


1895 


126,000 


Egypt 


400,000 


Occupation 


1882 


12,000,000 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 



19 





Area in 










square 


II oio acquired 






Countries 


miles 


by England 


Date 


Population 


Soudan (Anglo-Egyp- 










tian) 


985,000 


Treaty Cession 


1898 


2,000,000 


Australasia and Ocean 


ICA 


Constituted 'by 






comprising the follow- 




Act of Parlia - 






ing colonies: 




ment, 1900 






Commonwealth of 










Australia 










New South Wales 


309,100 


Settlement 


1788 


1,855,561 


Tasmania 


26,215 


Settlement 


1803 


196,758 


Queensland 


670,500 


Settlement 


1824 


678,864 


Western Australia 


975,920 


Settlement 


1828 


323,952 


Victoria 


87,884 


Settlement 


1832 


1,421,985 


South Australia 


380,070 


Settlement 


1836 


438,173 


Northern Territory 


523,620 


Settlement 


1863 


3,664 


Federal Territory 


912 


Settlement 




2,868 


New Zealand 


104,751 


Settlement 


1845 


1,050,000 


FijiJ 


hi 7»*S5 


Cession from 










the natives 


1874 


130,000 


Papua 1 


90,540 


Annexation 


1884 


360,000 


Pacific^Islands 


15.356J 


Treaty Cession 


1893- 
1906 


200,000 



20 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 



A Comparison of the Navies of the Nations at War and of the 
United States as per Official, Estimates to the End of 1915. 



Class 


•■gs 

£K1 




1 


3 

1 


a 
a 

| 




if 

is =» 

« e 

^&3 


1 


8 


Super-Dreadnaughts 


23 
















Dreadnaughts 


16 


11 


6 


7 


7 


27 


11 




10 


Pre-Dreadnaughts 


38 


192 


8 


12 


16 


19 


12 


3 


221 


Armoured Cruisers 


44 


19 


9 


3 


13 


S 


3 


2 


lis 


Protected Cruisers 


843 


18 


16 


9 


17 


34 


7 




111 


Torpedo Gunboats 


18 


7 


10 




4 




7 


2 




Sloop Gunboats 


23 
















3? 


Destroyers 
Torpedo Boats 


262 


87i 


43 


130 


52 


164 


16 


8 


56 


1001 


1591 


86i 




281 


47 


60 


7 


131 


Submarines 


85i 


76i 


20i 


31 


15 


27+4 


12 




38 


Monitors 


















4 


Old and Coast 




















Service Battleships 












2 + 7 






3 



i All figures under this mark are at the end of 1914. 

2 Six of these are semi-dreadnaughts. 

3 Classed as light cruisers. 

* Number in service at outbreak of war but largely increased since then 

with no estimate available. 
6 Turkey also has several small ships and a number of German merchant 

ships available for war use. 

6 Includes one second-rate cruiser. 

7 Scout ships. 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 21 

Questions and Answers 

1. How early was Great Britain known to the Ancients? 

Ans The Phoenicians obtained tin from Britain 
probably as early as the tenth century B. C, when Solo- 
mon was " in all his glory." 

2. How do we know that England was once a part of 
France? 

Ans The Strait of Dover is only 120 feet deep at its 
narrowest point and nowhere over 150 feet deep, and only 
twenty-one miles wide. The Washington Monument, it 
placed midstream, would be more than three-quarters 
above water. Moreover, the chalk hills of Dover are a 
continuation of those of Calais, and similar fossil remains 
are found both sides of and under the North Sea. 

3. What known conqueror first invaded Britain and 
when? 

Ans In 55 B. C. Julius Csesar crossed the Channel to 
scare the Britons from helping their kindred in his 
province of Gaul, now France, which, as he writes, the 
Celts inhabit." 

4. Who were the Britons? 

Ans The Britons were but one branch of the great 
Celtic race that then (100 B. C.) inhabited all western 
Europe: Celtiberians in Spain, Gauls or Celts in France, 
Britons in Britain. Their closest relatives were just across 
the Channel in Brittany. 

6. When and how did England get its name? 

Ans. After the Angles, who came from just south of 
Denmark (Angeln), had invaded and settled the eastern 
coast, beginning in 547 A. D., and spread inland, it 
became common to call all the invading tribes Angles, 
or English; hence England, or the land of the Angles. 

6. What is perhaps the most beautiful pun in the 
English language? 

Ans. When Pope Gregory the Great was a monk, he 
saw some fair-haired youths exposed for sale in the Roman 
market; he asked the dealer whence they came. They 



22 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

are Angles," was the reply. " Not Angles but Angels," 
said the monk and resolved, if ever he had power, to send 
missionaries to so promising a race. 

7. How did Gregory fulfil his vow? 

Ans. In 597 Augustine, with forty monks, landed on 
an island at the mouth of the Thames, sent by Gregory 
on a mission to convert Ethelbert, King of Kent, who 
had married a Christian princess. 

8. Why is the head of the English Church called the 
Archbishop of Canterbury? 

Ans. When converted, Ethelbert invited Augustine 
to his capital, Canterbury, and there the first cathedral 
and monastery were built and 10,000 subjects baptized 
•within a year. (Part of the original monastery is still 
used as a missionary college.) 

9. Why are the English often called Saxons and the 
early language called Anglo-Saxon? 

Ans. Quite a time before the invasion of the 
Angles, or in 477, the Saxons from the low ground between 
the Elbe and the Weser had invaded the southeastern, 
southern and southwestern coasts of Britain and settled 
Essex, Sussex and Wessex. 

10. Did any other tribes invade England besides Angles 
and Saxons? 

Ans. The Romans had conquered about all England 
in the first century A. D., but deserted it in the early 
part of the fifth, when Rome began to totter. In 449, 
after the Romans had gone, the Jutes from Jutland, 
or Denmark, landed in Kent to help against the Picts 
and Scots who were now attacking the Celts weakened 
by Roman bondage. The Jutes readily stopped the raids 
from the north of the island but decided to stay and occupy 
the best of Kent themselves, and they were soon followed 
by their former neighbors, the Saxons and Angles. 

11. Was there any native hero during the times of 
invasion — the fifth and sixth centuries? 

Ans. Arthur is the shadowy, mythical champion of the 
Celts. Whether he ever existed, or was a chief or a king, 
whether born in Britain or Brittany, has been much dis- 
cussed but according to tradition he was a Christian 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 23 

and fought valiantly against the pagans. He furnished 
the basis for the Arthurian legends, the finest group of 
English myths, as developed by William of Malmesbury 
(1125), Geoffrey of Monmouth (1136), Wace (1155), Sir 
Thomas Mallory (1470) and Tennyson in the "Idylls of the 
King" and Richard Hovey in "Launcelot and Guinevere." 

12. What was the Heptarchy? 

Ans. The Heptarchy is a name given to the seven 
kingdoms of England formed by the invading tribes — 
Kent, Essex, Sussex, Wessex, East Anglia, Mercia and 
Northumberland, but sometimes there were eight, and 
the number varied, as they were constantly fighting 
among themselves for mastery. 

13. Which of these seven or eight little kingdoms in 
England became predominant? 

Ans. After gaining a victory over Mercia, in south 
central England, Wessex, by the beginning of the ninth 
century, was clearly the strongest in the Heptarchy. . 

14. Who first assumed the title of king of the whole 
country? 

Ans. About 828 Egbert, king of Wessex, after a series of 
wars with his neighbors, compelled them all to acknowl- 
edge him as their overlord. He had spent some time at 
the court of Charlemagne, Emperor of the Roman Empire 
of the West, including France, Germany and Italy, and 
had, in consequence, imbibed larger ideas of sovereignty 
than his predecessors. He called himself " King of the 
English," however, not of the land. 

15. What greater king than Egbert soon became 
prominent? 

Ans. Alfred the Great, the only English ruler to 
obtain the title. He died in 901 and the thousandth 
anniversary of his death was celebrated at the opening 
of this century. 

16. What did Alfred do that he should be called "The 
Great?" 

Ans. Alfred was most famous for his successful con- 
tests with the Danes, who were making constant invasions 
in the last half of the ninth century. 



24 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

17. What was the Treaty of Wedmore (Wetmoor)? 

Ans. After "a crowning victory," Alfred compelled the 
Danes to acknowledge him as overlord in 878 and to 
sign this treaty, by which they obtained a large part 
of England north of Watling Street (the old Roman 
road running from London to Chester, near Liverpool), 
and which now forms the foundation for the great Midland 
Railway from London to Liverpool. 

18. What else did Alfred do for his country? 

Ans. Alfred started the English navy; he prepared 
a code of laws based on the Ten Commandments and 
the Golden Rule, and he translated for his people two or 
three valuable classics. 

19. What are we to understand by "Danelaw" and 
"Danegelt"? 

Ans. "Danelaw" signifies that part of England where 
the Danes lived and "Danegelt" was the money, gold 
(gilded), paid the Danes by a later king than Alfred to 
bribe them from further raids. 

20. Did the Danes ever gain entire control of England? 

Ans. In 1013 Sweyn, King of Denmark, overcame all 
resistance in England, and dying soon after (1017), left 
it to his son, Canute, who ruled over Norway, Sweden, 
Denmark and England — ■ a great northern empire. 
Canute was, moreover, a wise and capable ruler. He 
divided England into four earldoms — ■ Wessex, Mercia, 
East Anglia and Northumbria — ■ which, with their depend- 
encies, embraced the whole country. Dying in 1035 he 
was succeeded by two worthless sons who divided Eng- 
land between them, but they were unsatisfactory to both 
Danes and English who in 1042 united in restoring the 
former line of Saxon or English kings in the person of 
Edward the Confessor, son of Ethelred II. 

21. Is the invasion, conquest and occupation of a large 
part of England by Danes to be regarded as an injury? 

Ans. Although the early Danes were fierce pagans 
who delighted in destroying all signs of Christianity and 
civilization, such as towns and monasteries, they never- 
theless undoubtedly infused much vigor, an intense 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 25 

love of liberty, and a virile power of resisting oppression. 
It was in the north of England where the Danes were 
most numerous that William the Conqueror met the 
fiercest resistance and rebellion. 

22. Who was William the Conqueror? 

Ans. When the Danes, under Sweyn, invaded England, 
the English king, Ethelred, sent his Norman wife, Emma, 
over to Normandy with her son Prince Edward, then 
nine years of age. In boyish admiration or submission of 
the weaker to the stronger will, Edward is said to have 
promised the succession in England to his forceful cousin, 
William, destined soon to be the ruling Duke of Nor- 
mandy in France. But Edward married the daughter of 
Godwin, Earl of Wessex, his most powerful subject, 
and named Harold, his wife's brother, who had succeeded 
his father Godwin in Wessex, as the next king. 

23. What is probably the most memorable year in 
English History? 

Ans. The year 1066 is especially prominent, in English 
History as it marks the last, the greatest, in fact the 
only complete conquest of the " tight little isle " and the 
infusion of the last and most important molding element 
in the composite character of the present English nation. 

24. How was the Norman Conquest accomplished? 

Ans. When William, Duke of Normandy, heard of 
Harold's accession to the English throne, he was about 
to start on a hunting expedition, but he stopped short; 
he spoke to no one and no one dared speak to him. Harold 
was crowned in January, 1066, and during the spring 
and summer William prepared a fleet, and smiths and 
armorers were busy on lances, swords and coats of mail. 
The pope favored the expedition and forwarded a banner 
he had blessed. Several hundred vessels and transports 
crossed the Channel in October and landed an unknown 
number of archers and cavalry. King Harold was in the 
north of England crushing an invasion from Norway 
in which his own brother, Tostig, was treacherously 
interested, with an eye for the throne. Hastening south, 
Harold joined issue at Hastings in an all-day contest, 
October 14, 1066. The Saxons spent the previous night 



26 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

in revelry; the Normans in prayer and confession. The 
Saxons relied on javelins and battleaxes; the Normans 
on cavalry and archers. Finally at' dark, after heavy 
losses on both sides, strategy carried the day for William, 
Harold and all his immediate followers were slain and 
by the great battle of Hastings the control of England 
from outside the isle changed hands for the last time. 

25. Were these conquerors from France Frenchmen? 

Ans. As their name suggests, the Normans were 
Northmen or Scandinavians, the same stock that had 
partly conquered England in Arthur's time. Early in 
the tenth century these pirates, or vikings, had sailed up 
the Seine, ravaged the land and, liking the attractive 
valley, had settled there with Rouen as their capital. 
Their leader was Rollo. 

26. What new features did the Normans introduce 
into England? 

Ans. By intercourse and intermarriage as well as 
mere propinquity to the French, whose sovereignty they 
acknowledged, the Normans had acquired European 
culture and Christianity. They were much more nimble- 
witted than the stolid, hard-drinking Saxons and had 
distinct ideas of chivalry, court law and manners. 

27. How did Saxons, Jutes, Angles, Danes and Nor- 
mans get on together in one rather small island? 

Ans. They were all Teutons and so naturally coalesced 
much more readily with one another than they did with 
the former Celtic inhabitants. The contest of the Anglo- 
Saxons with the natives lasted for a century and a half, 
from 450 to 600, and they then controlled only England and 
the lower part of Scotland. Wales and upper Scotland were 
not subdued for centuries, and harmony between Celt 
and Saxon is hardly perfect yet in more distant and 
separate Ireland. 

28. Are there many common geographical names in 
England today by which we can partly locate these 
different invading tribes? 

Ans. Essex, Wessex, Sussex and Middlesex of course 
indicate Saxons and the general location in respect to 
one another — as east, west, south and between. London 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 27 

is in Middlesex. Norfolk and Suffolk counties in East 
Anglia indicate the folks in the north or south portions 
of that section. By, or Bye, signifies town in Danish 
(note, by-laws); hence Whitby, Rugby, Grimsby, etc., 
show Danish origin and are to be found generally north 
of Watling Street or toward the northeast. Chester, Col- 
chester, Dorchester, Lancaster, Worcester and words of 
similar ending show where Roman camps (caslra) were 
placed, and Lincoln, a Roman colony. By the time the 
Normans landed England was pretty thoroughly settled 
and few new names arose; still' Beaumont, Richmond, 
Montgomeryshire give us hints of aristocratic connec- 
tions. 

29. What is the Bayeux Tapestry? 

Ans. The Bayeux Tapestry is still preserved in Bayeux, 
Normandy, and is of very great value as it faithfully 
records the leading events in English history from the 
last of Edward the Confessor's reign to the battle of 
Hastings. There are seventy-two scenes depicted on the 
two hundred and fourteen feet of the foot-and-a-half 
wide hanging. Some think it the work of Matilda, wife 
of William. 

30. What sort of a ruler was William the Conqueror? 
Ans. William was capable, stern, but in the main 

just; he had a conscience and feared God, though not 
man. When angered by rebellion and foreign invasion 
in the north he swore by " the splendor of God " to 
lay waste the land, and fulfilled his oath. 

31. What was the Domesday Book? 

Ans. In 1086 William ordered a survey and valuation 
of the whole kingdom outside of London. The people 
called the compilation the Domesday Book, or Doomsday 
Book, for, like the Day of Doom, it left out no one; "not 
a rood of land, a peasant's hut; not an ox, cow, pig or 
even a hive of bees escaped." The book still exists. 

32. How many Norman kings were there? 

Ans. William the Conqueror was succeeded by his 
sons William Rufus, or William II, and Henry I, and 
his grandson Stephen. 



28 HISTORY OF ENGLANDJ j | 

33. What was the general character of the successors 
of William? 

Ans. William Rufus, unlike his father, feared neither 
God nor man. He kept the barons under good control 
but robbed the church. Henry I, who ruled from 1100 
to 1135, the longest Norman rule, was the best of the 
three sons of William. On first coming to the throne 
he re-established justice and guaranteed it by a charter, 
the first formal document of the kind ever issued, and 
he sent a hundred copies to the leading monasteries and 
cathedrals. Stephen usurped the throne which Henry 
had left to his daughter and he was supported by many 
nobles who preferred a man for a ruler. 

34. What terminated the Norman rule? 

Ans. Matilda, the daughter of Henry I, had married 
the Count of Anjou in France and engaged in civil war 
against the usurper, Stephen. This struggle ended in 
a compromise by which the rule should go to Matilda's 
son on the death of Stephen. This placed the son of a 
Frenchman on the English throne in 1154 and established 
the new reigning dynasty of the Plantagenets or Angevins. 

35. How did the Plantagenets get their name? 

Ans. The Count of Anjou, whose son was the first 
Plantagenet king, wore a sprig of the broom plant, planta 
genesta, in his helmet. 

36. How long did the Plantagenets rule and what were 
some of the most prominent events? 

Ans. The Plantagenet line continued from 1154 to 
the death of Richard III in the battle of Bosworth Field 
in 1485, or over three centuries and a quarter. The 
Hundred Years' War with France and the War of the 
Roses were two of the chief events; the conquests 
of Wales and Scotland were important. Magna Charta 
and the House of Commons were products of this-period. 

37. How much territory did Henry II, the first Planta- 
genet king rule over? 

Ans. From his mother came his right over England 
and Normandy and its dependency, Brittany; from his 
father he obtained Anjou and Maine, and from his wife, 
Eleanor, the divorced queen of France, he acquired the 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 29 

great southern dukedom of Aquitaine in France; so that 
his rule extended from the Pyrenees to the border of 
Scotland and included the larger half of France. In 
addition, the Earl of Pembroke conquered the eastern 
part of Ireland and added it to the royal possessions — 
the beginning of the trouble with Ireland. 

38. Who was Thomas a Becket? 

Ans. Thomas a Becket was a most capable and faithful 
Lord Chancellor of Henry Second and helped him secure 
control of his extensive French possessions by furnishing 
700 knights; but when made Archbishop of Canterbury, 
he defended the church from any encroachments on the 
part of Henry as stubbornly as he had fought in his 
behalf. Henry needed money and taxed the church land 
as well as that of the nobles. Becket opposed this and 
a quarrel ensued between the head of the church and 
the head of the state. Again, the king wanted to extend 
the power of the state courts over criminals in the church 
who were protected by the "benefit of clergy." This 
also Becket opposed stoutly and the quarrel was in- 
tensified. Becket fled the realm during the first quarrel. 
Henry banished his friends and relatives to the number 
of four hundred and Becket retaliated by excommunicating 
the king and his counsellors. After six years, a reconcilia- 
tion was made by the king but, on returning to England, 
Becket promptly excommunicated the Archbishop of 
York and his assistant bishops for supporting Henry 
in his (Becket 's) absence. The king in temper exclaimed, 
" Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest? " Three 
knights hastened to Canterbury without the king's 
knowledge and brutally murdered Becket within his 
own cathedral. 

39. What were the results of the murder of Becket? 
Ans. All England was horrified. The Pope proclaimed 

him Saint Thomas. The great Cathedral at Canterbury 
was hung with mourning. Becket's shrine became the most 
famous in England. " To Canterbury they wende, the 
holy blisful martir for to seke. That hem have holpen 
when that they were seke." Civil war broke out in France 
and Henry, believing it a judgment of heaven for Becket's 
death, journeyed from France to Canterbury, knelt 
before the grave of Becket and submitted to be beaten 
by the priests with rods. 



30 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

40. What was the chief work of Henry II, the first 
Plantagenet? 

Ans. The chief distinguishing act of Henry II was 
his strenuous effort to establish justice, law and order. 
Instead of the Trial by Battle by which the forceful 
Normans had settled individual quarrels and charges 
of treason, relying on God to spare the innocent and 
avenge them on their adversaries, Henry allowed a man 
charged with crime to absolve himself by the testimony 
of twelve reputable neighbors who knew his character. 
From this it was an easy step to a jury of any twelve 
reputable men to hear and weigh the evidence of witnesses 
and soon both grand and petit juries were common in 
England. It was Henry's further effort to stop the abuse 
of " benefit of clergy," by which many a rascal escaped 
altogether or with a mild punishment, that caused the 
fierce quarrel with Archbishop Becket. 

41. Just what was the "benefit of clergy"? 

Ans. Ecclesiastical courts had been established in 
which to try all the clergy who might be charged with 
misdemeanors. As very 'few except the clergy could read 
it grew common for any well-born sinner who could 
manage to spell out a sentence or two, to claim the privi- 
leges or benefit of clergy. The two very different uses 
of the words clerk and clerical come from this confusion 
of readers with priests. 

42. How were Henry IPs last days clouded? 

Ans. By the revolts of his four sons in his domains 
in France where he had given them authority over dif- 
ferent districts. Henry, his eldest, had even been crowned 
as an associate king but he and Geoffrey died before their 
father, leaving Richard Cceur de Lion, his second son, 
to succeed him, and John, the youngest and favorite 
son, who was forgiven by the dying father for rebellion. 
The mother, Eleanor, helped the sons against the king. 

43. How did Richard I gain the title of Cceur de Lion 
or Lion Hearted? 

Ans. He was very large, strong and courageous. He 
was also impulsive, warm-hearted and generous to his 
friends, though harsh and hard to his foes. An old story 
says he tore the heart out of a lion that attacked him. 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 31 

44. Why was Richard I often called the " Absentee "? 

Ans. Because of the ten years he was king of England, 
(1189-1199) he spent over nine abroad, either as a great 
warrior in the Third Crusade or as a prisoner to the Emperor 
of Germany, being held captive on his way home for his 
insolence to an Austrian duke during the crusade. He is 
a leading figure in Scott's " Talisman " and in " Ivanhoe." 

45. Why has there never been more than one John 
among the English rulers? 

Ans. Simply because that one was such a failure. He 
quarreled with the Pope, with his barons and with France 
and lost heavily in each quarrel — all Normandy in the 
case with France. He suffered humiliation before the 
Pope's representative, and Magna Charta was wrung 
from him by his lords and barons. 

46. What was Magna Charta? 

Ans. Magna Charta is the most important document 
in English history. It was forced from John's unwilling 
hand June 15, 1215, at Runny mede (meadow). Among 
its sixty-odd articles, many of which have ceased to have 
significance, are such as: " Every man shall be tried by his 
peers, or the law of the land. Justice shall neither be sold, 
delayed nor denied. Dues shall be imposed only with 
the consent of the National Council." This Charter of 
English liberty was held so important that it was con- 
firmed thirty-seven times within the following two cen- 
turies. The shrivelled parchment can be seen in the 
British Museum. 

47. What were the peculiar circumstances amid which 
John died? 

Ans. In 1216, the year after he signed Magna Charta 
and was so angry at doing it that he rolled on the ground 
and bit sticks like a mad dog, he died suddenly one night 
at a monastery. He had eaten peaches and drunk ale 
after a hard day's fight and flight from his own subjects, 
who were led by Prince Louis of France at their own re- 
quest. Some think the monks poisoned the peaches and 
cream but fruit and liquor on a much-fatigued stomach 
are enough to account for his demise. 



32 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

48. Was the loss of Normandy a serious one to England? 

Ans. The loss of Normandy was a distinct gain for 
English nationality as henceforth it obliged every Norman, 
the ruling race in England, to return to Normandy, or 
look on England as his own country. The Norman now 
blended with the Saxon. 

49. What was the next step after Magna Charta in 
the development of liberty and self-government in Eng- 
land. 

Ans. Just fifty years after Magna Charta had been 
granted by John, during the reign of his son, Henry III 
(1216-1272), Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester and 
brother-in-law of the king, led the nobles in a revolt 
against the childish, extravagant king. After defeating 
the king in 1264 in the battle of Lewes, Sir Simon the 
Righteous, as the people loved to call him, summoned 
a new Parliament and to that Parliament he called for 
the first time representatives of the boroughs (incor- 
porated towns) to join earls, barons and clergy in their 
councils, 1265. This was the beginning of the present 
House of Commons, though it was not fully established 
till the next reign. 

50. When and how did the House of Commons, the 
final source of all power in England today, become fully 
established? 

Ans. In 1295, Edward I, the efficient son of the weak 
Henry III, called the " Model Parliament " on the lines 
of Simon de Montfort's Parliament of thirty years before, 
saying that it was no more than right that he who paid 
money should have something to say about its use. 
Henceforth representatives of all classes of freemen as- 
sembled regularly for purposes of taxation, legislation 
and united political action. Henceforth Parliament con- 
sisted of two Houses, that of Lords and Clergy and that 
of the Commons. 

51. Was Edward I famous for anything else than 
establishing the House of Commons? 

Ans. Edward I was one of the great kings of England. 
" Hammer of the Scots. Keep Treaties " is engraved 
on his tomb. He invaded and conquered 'Wales, the 
stronghold of stubborn Celts. He also brought Scotland 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 33 

to acknowledge him as overlord and, as such, settled the 
dispute between John Baliol and Robert Bruce, as to 
which should rule Scotland, in Baliol's favor. As a sign 
of his sovereignty, he brought the famous Stone of Destiny 
from Scotland to Westminster Abbey. 

52. What is the story of the Stone of Destiny? 

Ans. The Stone of Scone, as it was sometimes called, 
was reputed to have been used as a pillow by Jacob at 
Luz or Bethel when he "saw angels ascending and de- 
scending," and great power and rule were promised him. 
This is, of course, a myth. The stone is of the same 
character as its neighbors, but for unknown generations 
the kings of Scotland had sat on it when first crowned. 
Edward I placed it under the seat of the coronation chair 
in Westminster Abbey where, seated thereon, every ruler 
of England, beginning with Edward II, the first Prince 
of Wales, has been crowned. It was used, also, when 
Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector of England. 

53. What is the origin of the title "Prince of Wales"? 

Ans. Edward II, son of Edward I, was born in Car- 
narvon Castle in Wales during the war of subjugation. 
The doughty Welsh vowed they would never obey any 
but a Welsh prince. " Come to the Castle tomorrow," 
said the king, " and I will offer you a native prince for 
your allegiance." Queen Eleanor had accompanied the 
king on his campaign and the new born babe was shown 
to the curious Welshmen as one who was born in Wales 
and knew no other language. By this tactful act the 
sturdy king won their hearts faster than he could by arms. 

54. Did the first Prince of Wales equal his stalwart 
father? 

Ans. Edward II proved to be one of the weakest 
kings in English history. He was fond of dress and dis- 
play and very dependent on worthless favorites. One 
of these, Piers Gaveston, a Frenchman, was put to death 
by the barons after he had been banished three times 
only to return at the king's desire. But the worst disgrace 
to Edward and the whole country was the terrible defeat 
at Bannockburn, 1314, when Robert Bruce, a fugitive 
and wanderer in the previous reign, now re-won the 
independence of Scotland. 



34 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

55. Is there any other interesting memorial of Edward 
I in London besides the Stone of Destiny? 

Ans. Charing Cross, which is almost in the center of 
the London of today and the location of the enormous 
station where thousands of Americans detrain yearly, 
is named for the beautiful cross erected in the village 
of Charing to mark the last spot where the coffin of 
Queen Eleanor rested on its way to Westminster Abbey. 

56. Who succeeded the weak Edward II? 

Ans. Edward III, son of Edward II, was another of 
the great kings of England, like his grandfather. He 
reigned just half a century, from 1327 to 1377, and with 
him began the Hundred Years' War with France. 

57. What was the cause of so long a war? 

Ans. England was a great wool-producing country 
but " the English didn't know what to do with it any 
more than the sheep on whose backs it grew," as quaint 
Thomas Fuller says. So they sent it to Flanders to be 
made into cloth. Hence trade, mutual interests, drew 
England and Flanders toward each other, which angered 
jealous Philip VI of France, to whom Flanders was a 
dependency. Moreover Philip desired to secure Aquitaine, 
in southern France, which came to England as the dowry 
of Henry IPs wife, ex-queen of France. Edward, on 
his side, claimed the throne of France through his mother 
Isabelle, sister of . the late king of France, who had died 
childless and left the throne to a cousin. Edward said 
a nephew was a nearer relation than a cousin and though 
the Salic law of France forbade female rule, there was 
no sufficient reason why he might not inherit it through 
a female. The French replied -that his mother could 
never bestow what she never possessed and so there was 
war. 

58. What was the most famous battle of that war? 
Ans. In 1346 the English won the very famous battle 

of Crecy. The English archers, with bows kept dry in 
their cases over a rainy night, poured such a storm 
of long, white arrows on the larger force of French, whose 
crossbows were wet, that the French yielded. The king 
gave the honor of victory to his fifteen-year old boy, 
Edward, the Black Prince. Cannon were used for the 
first time in the field but only to frighten horses. 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 35 

59. Was Crecy the only important victory in the war 
waged in France by Edward III? 

Ans. Ten years after Crecy, in 1356, Edward found 
his ten thousand men well nigh surrounded by 60,000 
French at Poitiers in the heart of France but he placed 
his men in lanes and vineyards, his archers again won 
the day and the French king John and his son Philip were 
taken prisoners. Edward had also captured Calais, the 
nearest French town to England. England held on to 
Calais till it was lost in Bloody Mary's reign, two hun- 
dred years later. The Scotch, always inclined to be allies 
of France, were also defeated and their king, David, 
made a third royal prisoner in Edward's hands. 

60. How did a thunder-storm end a war? 

Ans. Edward was about ready to besiege Paris when 
the French opened negotiations. During the discussion, 
a severe thunder-storm destroyed many horses and men 
in the English camp. Edward took this for a sign that 
heaven was displeased with his attempt and he fell on his 
knees before the beautiful Cathedral of Chartres and 
vowed to make peace. The Treaty of Bretigny, 1360, 
followed, by which Edward gave up all claim to Normandy 
and the crown but retained Calais and the south of 
France. 

61. What caused the War of the Roses? 

Ans. Edward Ill's long reign of half a century (1327- 
1377) was followed by that of Richard II, son of the 
Black Prince who had died of the Black Death which 
ravaged Europe at that time and carried off over half 
of the population. Richard II was a weak king and was 
supplanted by Henry Bolingbroke, son of the Duke of Lan- 
caster, fourth son of Edward III. This usurpation, though 
favored and confirmed by Parliament, not only set aside a 
ruling king but also ignored the claim of a living son of 
the third son of Edward. This laid the foundation of the 
sharp rivalry between the Houses of York and Lancaster, 
resulting in a war a half century later. 

62. How did the Black Death that crossed Europe 
from the East and destroyed half the population of Eng- 
land, as in other lands, cause economic changes in the 
Kingdom? 

Ans. After the pestilence had spent its force, there 
were not enough laborers left to shear the sheep or till 



36 HISTORY OF ENGLAND ,] 

the soil. Freemen demanded higher wages, while serfs, 
or villeins and slaves left their masters and roamed over 
the country demanding pay for services. It was the begin- 
ning of the contest between capital and labor which is 
still unsettled. Parliament was severe. It forbade any 
asking for higher pay and branded runaways with " F 
on the forehead; but the general agricultural strike lasted 
for thirty years and culminated in Wat the Tyler's in- 
surrection of 1381. Richard II, son of the Black Prince, 
was king then but his wasteful uncle, John of Gaunt, had 
control. 

63. How did Wat Tyler's rebellion arise and how did 
it end? 

Ans. To raise money, poll taxes were levied on every 
member of every laborer's family over fifteen years of 
age to an amount equal to several days' labor by a full 
grown man. The country was already on the verge of 
revolt. The tax collectors were rough, and an insult to 
a young girl brought her father's hammer on the offender's 
head and a multitude of sympathizers to his leadership. 
The movement spread to London from the south and east. 
The mob held control of London for three weeks, burnt 
John of Gaunt 's palace, beheaded the Lord Chancellor 
and the chief collector of the tax, burnt all law papers 
obtainable and murdered some lawyers, as they considered 
the profession the poor man's foe. They demanded 
that villeinage should cease and a uniform rent be fixed 
for land used for agriculture; also free trade and pardon 
for themselves. The young king, Richard II, met them 
bravely and promised relief but Walworth, Mayor of 
London, stabbed Tyler during the open conference in the 
fields and the whole movement collapsed and Parliament 
exacted severe punishment and granted no assistance to 
the needs. The Commons were as harsh as the Lords, 
but though no immediate benefit was secured, it started 
the movement toward less restriction. 

64. Did not usurpation of the rule by Henry IV, cousin 
of Richard II and first of the House of Lancaster, cause 
changes in the administration of government? 

Ans. As Henry owed his accession to Parliament he 
was somewhat at their mercy and had to assent to the 
demands of Parliament in 1407 that all money bills should 



- HISTORY OF ENGLAND 37 

originate in the House of Commons and that their delibera- 
tions in regard to grants of money should be free from 
his interference. The demands of money for the wars 
by kings were often made occasions to gain some reform 
which brought the king still more under control. 

65. How and when was the Hundred Years' War 
renewed? 

Ans. Henry V, the spirited son of the usurping Henry 
IV, on his father's dying advice renewed the war with 
France to divert attention from home questions that 
might lead to revolt. The French were in civil strife at 
the time and Henry thought it a good time to seek three 
things he wanted, — a wife, a fortune and a crown. 
By the brilliant victory at Agincourt, 1415, and subse- 
quent movements he won all three of his desires. At 
Agincourt he had but seven or eight thousand troops 
against fifty thousand French but the ground was wet 
from rain and the heavily armed horsemen of the French 
sank in the mire at every step. Henry drove into the 
ground stakes sharpened at both ends which acted as 
bayonets against the advancing cavalry. 

66. If Henry accomplished such great results by the 
battle of Agincourt how were those advantages lost? 

Ans. Henry V. married Katherine, daughter of the in- 
sane and feeble Charles VI, whom he was to succeed as king, 
meantime ruling as regent of France. All this, with large 
sums of money as Katherine 's dowry, was secured by 
the Treaty of Troyes in 1420. Two years later, Henry 
died in France while putting down a revolt. He left an 
infant son, Henry VI, who was crowned both in West- 
minster Abbey and in Paris. But though John, Duke of 
Bedford, brother of Henry V, fought valiantly and for 
a while successfully in France, the country was rescued 
by the inspired valor of Joan of Arc, and by the time 
Henry VI had grown up all the English possessions in 
France were lost except Calais, which remained in Eng- 
lish control for another century. 

67. How did the War of the Roses get its picturesque 
name? 

Ans. From the emblems of the two houses, a red rose 
for Lancaster and a white rose for York. 



38 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

68. How long did the War of the Roses last and how 
serious an affair was it? 

Ans. The War of the Roses lasted thirty years; there 
were fourteen pitched battles; eighty princes of the blood 
royal and more than half the nobility of England perished ; 
but the lower class did not suffer much, and common life 
went on more naturally, most of the time, than one would 
suppose. 

69. When and how did the War of the Roses end? 

Ans. The Earl of Richmond, Henry Tudor, of Lan- 
castrian connections, defeated Richard III of York on 
Bosworth Field in 1485 and ascended the throne that year 
as Henry VII, the first of the forceful Tudor line. His 
grandfather, Owen Tudor, was a Welshman who had 
married Katherine, the French widow of Henry V of Eng- 
land; so the relationship with the house of Lancaster 
through his mother, Jane Beaufort, was not the most 
marked feature of his descent ; but by killing the last of 
the reigning House of York and marrying the most 
prominent princess of that house he secured the then 
undisputed throne. 

70. What beautiful memorial in Westminster Abbey 
tells of the satisfactory ending of the War of the Roses? 

Ans. In the great rose window that looks toward the 
sunrise in Henry VII's gorgeous Chapel, which he built 
on the end of Westminster Abbey as a grand mausoleum 
for all his royal connections, the white and red roses are 
beautifully blended and show the happy issue of the 
war. 

71. When did printing come into use in England? 
Ans. In 1477 William Caxton, a London merchant 

who had learned the art of printing with movable type 
in Bruges, Flanders (now Belgium), set up his press within 
the grounds of Westminster Abbey. He published over 
eighteen thousand volumes. Among the first books 
printed in England were the " Sayings of the Philosophers" 
and Chaucer's " Canterbury Tales." 

72. What king of England was murdered in the Tower 
of London before his coronation? 

Ans. Richard, Duke of York, brother of Edward IV, 
first sovereign of the House of York, acted as guardian 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 39 

of the young son of Edward when that monarch died. 
He forced matters so boldly, by killing all opposers, 
that before three months had expired in preparation 
for the inaugural ceremonies of the twelve-year-old 
Edward V, king in name rather than in fact, Richard, the 
uncle, had secured those arrangements for himself. A 
younger brother of the three months' king suffered death 
with him and the childish bones of both were afterwards 
found behind a door in the Tower of London. The 
princes, placed by their uncle in the tower for safety, 
were probably suffocated in their sleep by his command. 

73. What marked change does the accession of Henry 
VH in 1485 mark? 

Ans. The accession of Henry VII marks the change 
from mediaeval to modern history. Feudal baronage had 
been broken up by the War of the Roses. Estates of the 
nobles in many cases had fallen to the Crown for lack 
of heirs or had been seized by other officials. Henry VII 
introduced a new social and political period. Printing 
was in common use; also the mariners' compass. The 
Cape of Good Hope had been reached. Columbus was 
about to set sail to the far west and England was to 
follow him. 

74. What share did England take in early discoveries 
in America? 

Ans. In 1497, immediately after Columbus' second 
voyage, which, like his first, had yielded only islands, 
John Cabot and his son Sebastian, Italians living in 
Bristol, the chief port on the west of England, sailed 
across the Atlantic to Labrador; and the next summer, 
1498, extended exploration down the Atlantic coast as 
far as the Cape Fear River of North Carolina. This 
formed the basis of the English claim in North America. 
In the king's private account book, under date of August 
10, 1497, is recorded the gift of " £10 to him that found 
the new isle " (probably Cape Breton). 

75. How is the Absolutism of the Tudors to be ac- 
counted for? 

Ans. The old nobles were mostly dead; their estates 
largely confiscated; the country was tired of war. The 
new king was shrewd and crafty ; he avoided war, obtained 



40 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

money by exacting it under old laws rather than by 
summoning parliament and demanding large sums, and 
so built up a personal sovereignty which he transmitted 
to his son with the fullest treasury any English king had 
ever possessed. He was a calculating shopkeeper and 
by making politic marriages for his children, in Spain 
and Scotland, accomplished stronger alliances than others 
could by wasteful wars. 

76. Why is the career of Henry VIII, son of Henry 
VII and second of the Tudor rulers, perhaps the most 
momentous in English history? 

Ans. Bluff King Hal, as the people of England, with 
whom he was rather popular, called him, was a despot; 
" he had a Pope within him", as Luther said. As a rule he 
stood by the common people but renounced the power 
of the pope and controlled parliament with the most 
unblushing effrontery. " Get that bill passed before 
night, my little man, or off goes your head " was his 
dictum to a leader of parliament, and the bill was passed. 
He turned England from the Church of Rome to the Eng- 
lish Church of today. 

77. What was the cause of Henry's break with the 
pope? 

Ans. When Luther denounced the doctrines of Rome, 
Henry, who had been educated for the Church before 
his older brother died, wrote an answer which he sent 
bound in cloth of gold to the pope, and received in return 
the title, Defender of the Faith, from the pleased pontiff; 
a title still borne by English rulers. But when Henry 
sought divorce from his first wife, Catherine, and the pope 
would not grant it, Henry withdrew his allegiance, though 
he still accepted all Catholic doctrines save papal suprem- 
acy and therefore cannot be called a real Protestant. 
Parliament declared Henry sole head of the church and 
denial of such headship to be high treason. 

78. Why did Henry wish a divorce which the pope 
would not grant? 

Ans. Henry had married his older brother's widow, 
Catherine of Spain, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. 
This union was contrary to Mosaic law and to that of the 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 41 

Church of Rome, and of England, but as they were quite 
young and there were no children from the previous 
marriage, the pope had granted a special dispensation 
on Henry VII's request. This preserved the alliance with 
Spain and the dowry of Catherine. Though several 
children were born to Henry, only a girl grew up, and 
Henry sighed for a son to rule a land no woman had ever 
ruled; finally, the sparkling eyes of Anne Boleyn attracted 
him. 

79. How was the matter settled? 

Ans. Henry's great chancellor, Wolsey, at first favored 
the divorce, thinking Henry would marry a French 
princess; but when he saw that it was only an English 
maid-of-honor that the king was enamoured of he opposed 
it, which quickly caused his downfall and death. Thomas 
Cranmer, of Cambridge, suggested to the king that he 
refer the matter to the Universities of Europe. This 
the king did and by bribery and threats (in England) 
as well as by honest verdicts in some cases, Henry secured 
his desires. 

80. What were the results of the divorce? 

Ans. Henry married Anne Boleyn, who bore him the 
great Elizabeth; the pope declared her illegitimate and 
excommunicated Henry, issuing a bull that delivered 
his soul to Satan and his kingdom to the first invader. 
Henry retaliated by suppressing the monasteries and 
confiscating their lands and treasures, claiming that they 
were corrupt. Some of the money went to found colleges, 
some to Henry's favorites. Some of the leading families 
of England owe their large estates to these changes. 
But the movement from the mediaeval monastery to the 
modern college was already on the way before this. 

81. Who succeeded Henry the Eighth? 

Ans. His only son Edward, a lad of ten, by his third 
wife, Jane Seymour. Under him and his regents, England 
first became officially (1549) and distinctly Protestant. 
Edward Vl's reign lasted only six years (1547-1553) as he 
died at sixteen. The first Act of Uniformity, passed in 
his reign, obliged all churches to use the new English 
prayer book. 



42 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

82. What most distinguished Edward VFs short reign? 

Ans. More Catholic church property was confiscated 
and part of the wealth so obtained was devoted, largely 
by the young king's influence, to the endowment of forty 
grammar (Latin and Greek) schools, such as Shakespeare 
attended and like the oldest English school in the United 
States, the Boston Latin School of 1635, once called gram- 
mar school as distinguished from a writing or commercial 
school. A number of hospitals also were established; 
among them was Christ's Hospital in London for the sup- 
port and education of fatherless boys. This is where 
Coleridge and Lamb studied, — ■ two of England's finest 
literary products. 

83. Did Protestantism continue to flourish after 
Edward's death? 

Ans. Edward VI was succeeded by his half-sister 
Mary, the daughter of Henry's first wife. She had natu- 
rally accepted in full faith the religion of her Spanish 
mother. She was utterly conscientious in her efforts to 
restore Roman Catholicism, and married her cousin, 
Philip II of Spain, the most prominent Catholic ruler in 
Europe and a fanatical one. Many were burnt at the 
stake during Mary's short reign of five years (1553-1558), 
and she gained the unenviable title of Bloody Mary, but 
Mary is to be regarded with pity rather than hatred. 
She was narrow and bigoted, but had had a hard ex- 
perience and was true to what she considered right, in 
an age when little or no mercy was shown to those who 
differed in religion from those in authority, whether 
Catholic or Protestant. 

84. Who was Lady Jane Grey? 

Ans. Lady Jane Grey was a charming, finely educated 
girl of seventeen who wore the crown as queen of England 
for nine days after Edward's death. She was a descendant 
of Henry VII and a relative of Edward, who left the crown 
to her by his will. She was a Protestant and married to 
Lord Guilford Dudley, son of the Duke of Northumber- 
land, who, as Edward's regent, had very likely influenced 
Edward's act. Mary had the better right to the throne, 
and Lady Jane with her husband was thrown into the 
Tower and afterwards beheaded; and so also her scheming 
father-in-law, who had persuaded her to take the throne. 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 43 

85. Why is the last half of the seventeenth century 
considered the most glorious age in English annals? 

Ans. Because it is nearly synchronous with the reign 
of the great Elizabeth (1558-1603) in whose reign England 
rose from a secondary rank in Europe to the first rank 
by the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588; because it 
is the age of Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Benjonson, 
Sir Walter Raleigh, Lord Bacon, Admiral Drake and a 
host of other stars who together form a galaxy of genius 
unequaled before or since. 

86. To what is the unprecedented glory of the Eliza- 
bethan Age due? 

Ans. Elizabeth was young, twenty-five, when she 
began to reign; a consummate flirt, but too wise to marry, 
she attracted and held unwonted admiration. Men were 
willing to do and dare to the uttermost for such a queen. 
Life was stimulated in every direction, — poetry, the 
drama, voyages of adventure, achievements of every kind. 

87. Who was Mary, Queen of Scots? 

Ans. Mary, Queen of Scots, famed for her beauty, had 
a most remarkable career. Educated in France, she 
naturally became a Catholic, was married to the heir to the 
French throne, Francis II, reigned as queen for one short 
year and then suffered, as a young widow without chil- 
dren, at the hands of her Italian mother-in-law, Catherine 
de' Medici. All this before she was twenty. Then she 
returned to Scotland, where she was queen in her own 
right, and married her cousin, Lord Darnley. By him she 
had one son, James the Sixth. Scotland had become 
intensely Protestant and the people were very much 
displeased with their queen's religion and the priests she 
had brought from France. They obliged her to abdicate 
in favor of her infant son. 

88. What were the relations of Mary Queen of Scots 
with Elizabeth of England? 

Ans. Mary and Elizabeth were cousins by the mar- 
riage of Margaret, Henry VIII's sister, with James IV of 
Scotland. When Elizabeth came to the throne, as her birth 
and ascendency were condemned by the pope, Mary, her 
cousin, had the right to the throne in the opinion of all 



44 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

Catholics. When Mary was forced to abdicate in favor 
of her infant son, James VI, she risked the battle of Lang- 
side with her subjects and was defeate'd. She then fled 
over the border to Elizabeth for protection, but she was 
confined, for protection to England, in Fotheringay Castle 
for twenty years. 

89. What became of Mary Queen of Scots finally? 

Ans. There were such frequent plots to rescue Mary 
from confinement that at last Elizabeth was advised by 
her council to execute Mary, as the safest course for 
England. This she did, apparently with great reluctance. 

90. Were there any marked consequences of so promi- 
nent an execution? 

Ans. Philip of Spain, most prominent Catholic ruler 
in Europe, with the Pope's sanction and approval, set 
sail for England with the great Armada of 132 ships to 
avenge Mary's death and gain the English throne. 

91. What was the nature of the conflict of England 
with the Spanish Armada? 

Ans. Lord High Admiral Howard, commander-in-chief 
of England's navy, a prominent Catholic, was intrusted 
with the command. The smaller English vessels led by 
the British sea dogs, Howard, Drake, Hawkins and Raleigh 
attacked in the English Channel and by adroit and quicker 
handling forced the Spanish ships toward the coast of 
Flanders and there sent fireships among them, which did 
fearful damage and drove them to ignominious flight 
around the top of Scotland. Only 53 out of 132 ships 
reached home. 

92. Name several authors who adorned the Elizabethan 
Age of Literature. 

Ans. For poets, Edmund Spenser, who wrote the 
" Faerie Queene," a large work in twelve books in praise 
of Elizabeth, and Sir Philip Sydney, killed in battle at 
thirty-two; for philosophy, Francis Bacon, generally con- 
sidered the strongest and most original thinker since 
Aristotle; for the drama, Christopher Marlowe, born the 
same year as Shakespeare, killed in a brawl at thirty, 
and yet from him Shakespeare most likely learned his 
" mighty line"; Shakespeare himself, the nonpareil, and 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 45 

Ben Jonson, then considered superior to Shakespeare; 
for history, Sir Walter Raleigh, who wrote the first History 
of the World. 

93. Are there any marks of Elizabeth's reign in 
America? 

Ans. Virginia, oldest and for over a century and a half 
the leading English colony in America, was named for 
the virgin queen by Sir Walter Raleigh. The capital of 
North Carolina, which bears his name, recalls his attempts 
to settle on Roanoke Island in 1585, '86 and '87 The 
trouble with Spain interfered and put a stop to his efforts. 

94. Why didn't Elizabeth marry? 

Ans. Because she was wise. If she married Philip of 
Spain, who proposed, or the French Duke of Anjou, she 
would offend her Protestant subjects. If she married her 
favorite, Lord Dudley, Earl of Leicester, she would offend 
the Catholics. Mary, her brilliant rival, said Elizabeth 
declined to marry as she preferred to be courted by many 
rather than yield submission to any one. Parliament, 
early in her reign, expressed a desire that she marry. 

95. What was Elizabeth's religion? 

Ans. " Elizabeth was Protestant in her brain but 
Catholic in her nerves," i.e., she retained many of her 
sister Mary's advisers but added several Protestants, as 
Cecil, Walsingham and Bacon, and especially admonished 
Cecil always to tell her what to do regardless of her pref- 
erences. She sanctioned the Laws of Uniformity that 
required the use of the English prayer book, but she had 
her private chapel where she prayed before a crucifix with 
lighted candles beside it. In fact, Elizabeth strongly 
resembled her father in more ways than one. 

96. What common signs were there of material progress 
in Elizabeth's "Golden Age"? 

Ans. People were no longer satisfied to live in cold, 
gloomy castles, surrounded by moats of stagnant water, 
but built spacious mansions and filled them with furni- 
ture and with carpets and tapestry to keep out the cold. 
Chimneys also carried off the smoke. Silver plate took 
the place of pewter and wooden dishes. Much of the 
silver came from the plunder of Spanish galleons captured 



46 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

on the Spanish Main and elsewhere, at which Drake and 
Raleigh were experts. Twenty tons of silver, eighty 
pounds of gold and thirteen chests of plate made one 
single treasure ship's load transferred by Drake to the 
" Golden Hind." 

97. Who succeeded the Virgin Queen? 

Ans. As Elizabeth left no direct heirs the title reverted 
to her former rival, Mary, Queen of Scots, and as she was 
dead, James, her son, was not only named by Elizabeth 
but called by Parliament to rule over England, Ireland 
and Wales, as well as Scotland. Thus James VI of Scot- 
land became James I of England in 1603. 

98. What kind of a man was the son of the beautiful 
Mary, Queen of Scots? 

Ans. James the First of England was very different from 
his fascinating mother. He was feeble of body and could 
not walk, straight. He could not bear the sight of a drawn 
sword; he wore padded clothing, usually of a green color. 
Mentally he was shrewd, crammed with undigested learn- 
ing, of small mind and large conceit. The French ambas- 
sador called him " the wisest fool in Christendom." He 
believed in witchcraft and ordered it punished with death. 
He wrote on theology and composed commonplace verse. 

99. What was the prevailing policy of the Stuart kings? 

Ans. James believed in The Divine Right of Kings. 
" God makes the king, the king makes the law," was his 
favorite saying. The king was responsible to God for good 
government and the care of his people. Although chosen 
and called to his position by Parliament, he declared he 
was in no way under obligation to the people. "It is 
blasphemy to dispute with God; it is presumption to dis- 
pute with a king." Hence, naturally, he levied customs 
without authority and violated the privileges of the Com- 
mons, rejecting legally elected members and imprisoning 
those who criticised. 

100. Where is or was James I's name made prominent 
in America? 

Ans. The first English settlement on the mainland of 
America was Jamestown, planted in 1607 by about a hun- 
dred settlers, half of whom were the younger sons of noble- 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 47 

men, who, barred from inheritance at home, hoped to find 
gold in the New World. They started the "F. F. V.'s 
of Virginia," or First Families. 

101. What very different American colony dates from 
James' time? 

Ans. In 1620 the Pilgrims, a body of about a hundred 
Separatists from the Church of England, sought "freedom 
to worship God on the wild New England shore." James had 
said he " would make them conform or harry them out of 
the kingdom." 

102. Were there any other interesting colonies planted 
during his reign? 

Ans. James granted much of the Crown Land in Ulster, 
Ireland, which had been seized during a rebellion, to Scotch 
and English settlers. The Dutch also settled New Amster- 
dam, now New York, and Fort Orange, now Albany. 

103. With what great book is King James' name 
associated? 

Ans. The famous King James' version of the Bible, pub- 
lished in 1611 and written in the choicest English of the 
generation of Shakespeare, was made by the order of the 
king and is still in use in very many Protestant churches. 

104. How did Charles I, son and successor of James, 
compare with his father? 

Ans. James was something of a glutton, and a dis- 
agreeable fellow generally. His son was a gentleman, 
a good husband, a devoted father, a zealous churchman, 
but a treacherous, dangerous liar, thief and rascal politi- 
cally. He believed in his father's doctrine of The Divine 
Right of Kings and carried it to the extreme until it brought 
on the Civil War of England, which ended in Charles' 
execution by his subjects. 

105. What may be considered the most active element 
in bringing on the Civil War of England? 

Ans. Probably the growth of Puritanism was the most 
marked element in opposition to Charles' usurpations. 

106. What was Puritanism? 

Ans. Puritanism was the name given to the large, active, 
reputable membership in the Church of England that was 
unsatisfied with the prevailing form and ceremonies of the 



48 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

Church of England. They felt that in breaking away from 
the Church of Rome the English Church had not gone far 
enough. They loved the church to which they belonged, 
but objected to some of its rites and requirements. This 
element had been steadily growing in number and force 
since the early days of Elizabeth, seventy or more years 
before the war. When James VI of Scotland crossed the 
border as James I of England, he was petitioned by a 
thousand signers asking that their ministers be permitted 
to preach without the white surplice, to baptize without 
making the sign of the cross on the child's forehead and 
to marry people without the use of the ring. Lord Bacon 
and Bishop Hooker, though prominent in the Church of 
England, asked for toleration, but the king had no patience, 
denied the request and imprisoned the ten ministers who 
had presented it. 

107. What specific acts of Charles led up to war? 

Ans. Charles, who came to the throne in 1625 at twenty- 
five years of age, had trouble with his first Parliament 
in demanding money which they refused except on condi- 
tions to which the king would not agree. He had trouble 
with his second Parliament of 1626 and dissolved it speedily, 
as he had the first. The king then attempted to force loans 
from Sir John Eliot, Sir Edward Hampden and Thomas 
Went worth, which they refused. Much in need of money, 
Charles called a third Parliament in 1628, which forced 
him to sign their Petition of Rights, but he broke it soon 
after signing. 

108. What very great influence had the reign of the 
young despot, Charles I, on the settlement of New England 
and on the future United States? 

Ans. When Charles I began to act arbitrarily and dis- 
solved one Parliament after another, when refused money, 
and then proceeded to raise it by illegal means, many of 
the more active Puritans began to look across the Atlantic 
for greater civil and religious freedom. The Massachusetts 
Bay Company was formed; Matthew Cradock was its first 
governor (Cradock House in Medford, Mass.), and the 
first shipload of settlers, sent over under John Endicott, 
deputy governor, settled Salem in 1628; a few more settled 
Charlestown, named for the king, in 1629. When Charles 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 49 

broke the Petition of Rights, which the Parliament of 1628 
had forced him to sign, and dismissed the Parliament of 
1629 in six weeks, the whole company, with Gov. John 
Winthrop at the head, came over in a fleet of a dozen vessels, 
bringing their charter with them, which gave them full 
power of electing their own rulers and a tract of land 
reaching from three miles north of the Merrimac to three 
miles south of the Charles. 

109. What were the very peculiar conditions in English 
history during the decade 1630-1640? 

Ans. Charles I ruled without a Parliament from 1629 to 
1640, and over 10,000 settlers, mostly Puritans, flocked to 
New England, beginning with the great settlement of 
Boston and the towns around it in 1630, and extending 
through Rhode Island and Connecticut, 1634-39. The 
Catholics of England in 1634 also made a settlement in 
Maryland, named so for Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I. 

110. What was the outcome of Charles Fs return to 
despotism while people were growing more democratic? 

Ans. In 1640 Charles I was forced to call a Parliament 
in order to raise money to enable him to impose the Church 
of England on Presbyterian Scotland, and this Parliament 
had the courage to take the bits in its teeth and lead Eng- 
land by a rough and bloody route out of the Slough of 
Despond into which it had fallen. 

111. What were the leading acts of the famous Long 
Parliament? 

Ans. First the Long Parliament of 1640 voted not to 
dissolve till it got through with its work, despite the king. 
Next, it summoned to its bar Thomas Wentworth, now Lord 
Strafford, who had been an ardent co-worker with Eliot, 
Hampden and Pym, in earlier Parliaments, but who was now 
the king's chief adviser ; he was tried, convicted and executed 
for high treason and oppression. Next, it called before it 
Archbishop Laud, the tyrant of ecclesiastical forms, 
tried, convicted and executed this head of the church as 
it had the chief minister of state. By this time the great 
Civil War of 1642-1648 was on, which resulted in the trial, 
conviction and execution of Charles I, head of the nation. 
Next, the House of Lords was abolished and England 
declared a Commonwealth. In fact, England was experi- 



50 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

encing something like the later French Revolution but 
under the saner, safer, cooler temperament of its Teutonic 
people, who, through their representative body, worked 
out the solution of an intolerable condition in church and 
state. 

112. Who were the most prominent leaders of the people 
against their king? 

Ans. In the earlier Parliamentary struggles Sir John 
Eliot, Sir Edmund Hampden and his cousin John, who 
refused to pay illegal ship money for national defense in 
time of peace, were prominent. Eliot died a martyr, im- 
prisoned by the king. When war broke out Lord Fairfax 
and Oliver Cromwell were leaders. Oliver Cromwell, a 
cousin of John Hampden, was a country squire who led 
a company in one of the first engagements, a regiment in 
a later fight, and finally the whole army, the irresistible 
Ironsides, which never suffered defeat in England, Scotland 
or Ireland. 

113. How was England governed after the execution of 
the king? 

Ans.- In the decade 1630-1640, England was ruled by 
a despot without a Parliament. In the decade 1640-1649, 
Parliament, or the people, turned tables on the king and 
even abolished the monarchy. In the next decade, or from 
1649 to 1660, England as a commonwealth was governed 
by a council appointed by Parliament. In this council 
Cromwell was naturally the dominant figure. He was 
asked to accept the crown, but refused. He was then 
made Lord Protector in 1654, retaining the position and 
ruling ably till his death in 1658. 

114. How shall we regard Cromwell? 

Ans. Cromwell was one of England's greatest products. 
The times needed such a man; his acts were frequently as 
arbitrary and unconstitutional as Charles', but like Abra- 
ham Lincoln's unconstitutional acts in our Civil War, they 
were always for the good of the country. He viewed the 
corpse of the dead king at midnight and gazing at the 
features for a silent moment, said, " A sad necessity." He 
was tolerant for the times. He allowed Quakers their form 
of worship undisturbed ; he allowed Jews to return to Eng- 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 51 

land after an exile of 300 years. He was unduly harsh 
toward Catholics alone but deemed* them dangerous to 
the government. 

115. What happened after Cromwell's death? 

Ans. After Cromwell's death in 1658, his son, Richard 
Cromwell, assumed his father's position for a few months. 
" Tumble-down Dick," as the people dubbed him, was a 
gentleman but no statesman or warrior. He resigned on 
a generous pension, and England, fearing a military des- 
potism, as the army was now all powerful, decided to restore 
the Stuart dynasty in the person of Charles II and trust 
that he would do better than his father. 

116. Did Charles II prove to be better than Charles I? 

Ans. The royal tramp returned from a vagabond exist- 
ence of many years on the Continent determined to enjoy 
himself now that he had come into his own. He was called 
the Merry Monarch from his utter devotion to pleasure, 
to wine, women and gambling. He was too much absorbed 
in pleasure-seeking to pay much attention to governing, 
and so, in a way, the dissolute Charles II was a less danger- 
ous or troublesome ruler than his highly respectable father, 
Charles I. 

117. What change in America during Charles IPs reign? 
Ans. In 1663 he gave his brother, the Duke of York, 

all the Dutch territory between New England and the 
Delaware, " to go in and possess the land," and so in 1664 
New Amsterdam became New York and Fort Orange 
became Albany. 

118. Were Charles IPs ways of raising money for his 
extravagant tastes any more reputable or constitutional 
than his father's? 

Ans. CharlesII's method of raising money was worse than 
his father's, and that is saying a good deal. In 1667 he 
made the infamous secret treaty of Dover with the Grand 
Monarch, Louis XIV of France, by which he was to receive 
£300,000 ($1,500,000) for aiding Louis to subdue Holland 
and establish Catholicism there, and Charles was to receive 
in addition £200,000, or a million dollars, annually as soon 
as he proclaimed himself a Catholic. 



52 HISTORY OP ENGLAND 

119. What was the Cabal? 

Ans. The name given a group of Charles' friends, like the 
Kitchen Cabinet of President Jackson, who advised their 
chief. The initials of their names, Clifford, Arlington, 
Buckingham, Ashley and Lauderdale spelt the word which 
means a secret political group. They were a corrupt pack. 
Two of them knew of the secret treaty of Dover. 

120. Why did England, the home of strict Puritanism, 
submit to the great change introduced by Charles? 

Ans. The reaction from an over-severe regime swung, as 
is common, too far the other way. The Puritans had closed 
every theater, abolished Christmas as a holiday, and for- 
bidden even Maypole dances to innocent children. Now the 
gayer part of the community revelled in French plays and 
female roles, formerly taken by boys, were impersonated by 
women ; and, following the unhealthful influence and example 
of the court, licentious plays, poems, literature and living 
became very common . Charles debauched England and she 
developed a lower moral tone than at any time before or 
since. 

121. Were there any other changes in America besides 
the taking over of the New Netherlands in Charles IPs 
reign (1660-1685)? 

Ans. In 1664 and 1670 Charles gave the southern por- 
tion of Virginia to favorites; first North Carolina and later 
South Carolina. Charleston, S. C, was first settled in 1670. 
Carolina, so named for a French king in an attempted 
settlement by the French Huguenots, retained its name 
with a new reference. In 1681 William Penn, the noted 
Quaker, received a large tract of desirable land in payment 
of a debt due his father, Admiral Penn, and hither led a 
worthy band of followers and treated all comers liberally. 
These gifts of the Merry Monarch doubled the original 
six settlements of his father's and grandfather's reigns 
and completed the original thirteen states with the ex- 
ception of the much later and most southern, Georgia. 

122. Of what nature were Charles IPs last days? 
Ans. Charles died as he had lived. On Sunday he 

was disporting with his favorites of both sexes. Before 
the end of the week he was dead and buried and forgotten 
and James, his extremely Catholic brother, late Duke of 
York and Albany, ruled in his place. 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 53 

123. Did this change in the religion of the ruler make 
any serious change in the country? 

Ans. James II's intense Catholicism wrought serious 
changes but mainly for himself and family. James was 
an abler and much more decided man than his sportive 
brother. He made violent radical changes in governors, 
heads of colleges, and other administrators, which drove 
the people to action as it had in his father's time. Parlia- 
ment had no desire to make a martyr of him,, as many 
now regarded his father, but it grew " too hot " for him 
in England and he followed his family to France, whither 
he had sent them when the turmoil began. 

124. Did James II's arbitrary acts affect America? 
Ans. James II sent Governor Andros of New York 

to Boston as headquarters, to add southern New England 
to his gubernatorial territory. Andros demanded the 
charters of Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. 
He built the first Episcopal Church in Boston, King's 
Chapel, in whose graveyard Lady Andros was buried. 
When James I was expelled from England, the good 
people of Boston quickly drove his creature to seek 
shelter in the forts of the harbor. 

125. What event is indicated by the " Glorious Revolu- 
tion of 1688"? 

Ans. When James II was expelled from England, 
after three short years of rule, his son-in-law, the able 
Protestant Prince of Orange and Stadtholder, or President, 
of the Dutch Republic, was asked in behalf of and with 
his wife Mary, oldest daughter of James, to accept the 
throne. This he assumed without bloodshed. 

126. Why was the succession to the English throne 
changed in 1688? 

Ans. James' daughters, Mary and Anne, daughters 
of his first wife, Anne Hyde, daughter of one of England's 
prominent statesmen, were Protestant, grown up and 
married to Protestants; but by a second wife, from Italy, 
a boy was born in 1688 and this drove England to action, 
as not only must the rule of James be endured to his death 
but he would be succeeded by a Catholic in a strongly 
Protestant nation. 



54 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

127. Was William Ill's reign a success? 

Ans. William III was a wise, industrious and conscien- 
tious ruler. His chief interests, however, were in his 
beloved Holland and his efforts to defend it from the 
rapacity of Louis XIV. To this end he diverted money 
and men from England but it was in a common cause, as 
Louis was supporting James II and after his death the 
young son or Pretender to the English throne. The 
Battle of the Boyne in the north of Ireland between 
William III and James II settled the question as to who 
should rule. The war with France placed England hope- 
lessly in debt for the first time and led to the establishment 
of the Bank of England, or " the little old lady of Thread- 
needle Street," reputed the leading banking institution 
of the world. 

128. Who was "the little gentleman in black velvet " 
to whom the Jacobite Tories used to drink at suppers 
after William's death? 

Ans. William was frail and an invalid and overworked. 
His horse stepped in a mole hill and threw him in his 
heavy armor and he died. Hence the Tory toast to the 
underground slayer of a king. 

129. Did William establish a Dutch dynasty in England? 

Ans. The House of Nassau-Stuart died with him as 
far as the Nassau factor was concerned, as he was child- 
less. Mary, joint sovereign with him — the only case 
of dual reign in English history — had died before him, 
and so Anne, the younger sister and the last Stuart ruler 
of England, succeeded William in 1702 and reigned till 
her death in 1714, when the present House of Hanover 
with all its Georges came in. 

130. What was the character of the last Stuart ruler, 
Queen Anne? 

Ans. Anne, the younger daughter of James II, was 
goodnaturedly stupid. She had Stuart proclivities in 
that she believed in the Divine Right of Kings though she 
did not exercise it. She was a strong Tory, politically, 
and a High Church woman religiously. She also believed 
in the royal power of touching for " the king's evil," or 
scrofula. Dr. Samuel Johnson, at the age of two, was 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 55 

taken to court, examined by the court physician and 
stroked by the queen. Some say he improved in health, 
others say the royal touch was without avail. He told 
Boswell he remembered a large lady in black bending 
over him. 

131. What were the most marked characteristics of 
Queen Anne's reign? 

Ans. Somewhat singularly Anne's rather short reign 
was distinguished very much as Elizabeth's was, by the 
unusual prominence of both war and literature 
in the same reign. Queen Anne's reign produced the 
most brilliant soldier, probably, in England's long roll 
of heroes and also the most distinguished group of writers 
between Elizabeth's death in 1603 and 1800. 

132. Who was England's most distinguished warrior? 
Ans. John Churchill, afterwards made first Duke of 

Marlborough on account of his victories. Voltaire says 
1 ' he never fought a battle he did not win or besieged a 
fortress he did not take." 

133. What was Marlborough's character? 

Ans. Marlborough's character was stained by two 
serious vices — treachery and greed for money. He 
deserted James II for William III, yet maintained cor- 
respondence with James, and would have deserted William 
for James, if he could have seen personal gain thereby, and 
would have deserted Anne for the Pretender on the same 
terms. He stole the money intended for his soldiers' 
supplies and his moral character is beneath contempt. 

134. What were Marlborough's greatest achievements? 
Ans. Marlborough's first important victory was that 

of Blenheim in Bavaria in 1704 against the French. 
Marlborough was the able successor of Louis XIV's 
greatest enemy, William III, who had died in 1702. For 
the victory of Blenheim, the English Government presented 
him with the royal demesne of Woodstock, where the trees 
were cut to represent the location of the contending forces. 
This is the present possession of the Dukes of Marlborough, 
the last of whom has been greatly stimulated to take part 
in his country's needs by his capable wife, Consuelo 
Vanderbilt, whose money has done much toward reno- 
vating the estate. 



56 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

135. Who was the first Duchess of Marlborough? 

Ans. Sarah Jennings was waiting-maid to the Princess 
Anne, at the same time that John Churchill was Irish 
page to her father, Duke of York, afterwards James II. 
They made a match of it and were peculiarly fitted for 
each other. Churchill rose to be the most prominent 
man in England, while his wife was Mistress of the Robes 
to the Queen and dictated what particular hat, dress or 
ribbon her royal mistress should wear when both rode 
to St. Paul's to enjoy the Te Deum in praise of one of 
Marlborough's victories. Anne reigned but Sarah ruled. 

136. Did the supremacy of the Churchills last through- 
out Anne's reign? 

Ans. The Whigs supported Marlborough and the war; 
the Tories decried both. A Mrs. Masham, as subtle, 
sly and suave as the Duchess was forceful, violent and 
presumptuous, gained the ear of the Queen whose sympa- 
thies were with the Tories, and succeeded in bringing her 
cousin, Harley, leader of the Tory Party, into the palace 
by the back stairs. He obtained authority from the 
Queen so that, with the growing dissatisfaction of England, 
he was able to have Marlborough called home on charge 
of malversation and afterwards to make the peace of 
Utrecht with Louis. Thus were the destinies of parties 
and of countries controlled and managed for a season by 
two waiting- women as the " powers behind the throne." 

137. When and what was the Augustan Age of Litera- 
ture? 

Ans. The writers of Queen Anne's time were noted 
for accuracy and finish, as those of Elizabeth's time were 
noted for force and originality. They entertained an 
excellent opinion of their own merit. They have been 
likened to the polished school of Latin authors that 
adorned the reign of Augustus, the first Roman Emperor. 
They actually esteemed themselves superior to Jonson, 
Shakespeare, and other Elizabethans, and held that 
nothing better could follow them. They were classicists, 
following ancient models, rather than romanticists follow- 
ing natural inspiration and imagination. 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 57 

138. Who were the most noted writers of the Augustan 
Age of Literature? 

Ans. Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, who edited 
the famous Spectator in 1711-1712, were the most famous 
Whig writers and were prominent in Parliament and 
politics. Jonathan Swift, who wrote " A Tale of a Tub " 
and " Gulliver's Travels," was the most brilliant Tory 
writer and Pope was the only poet of merit. It was not 
a poetic age and Pope gloried in city scenes and " common 
sense " rather than in nature or romance. 

139. How did the successor of English Anne happen 
to be an out-and-out German? 

Ans. By the Settlement Act of 1701 which decreed that 
after William and Mary and Anne, all of whom died 
childless, the throne should go to the nearest Protestant 
heir. This proved to be the elector of Hanover, George 
I of England, great-grandson of James I, whose daughter 
had married the elector of the Palatinate on the Rhine; 
and their daughter Sophia had married the elector of 
Hanover. 

140. What sort of a man was George I? 

Ans. " Snuffy old drone from the German hive," 
Holmes calls George the Second in his "One-Horse Shay," 
and the expression was much more appropriate for his 
father. He was in his middle fifties, could not speak 
English and cared little for England, much preferring 
Hanover. He brought over a German retinue and enjoyed 
German caricatures of English ways and people. His 
reign lasted only from 1714 to 1727. 

141. Did George I's inability to speak the language 
of the people he governed make any change in the ways 
of government? 

Ans. George I's reign marks the beginning of cabinet 
government and of prime ministers. Charles II had 
adopted the fashion of a greatly reduced council of ad- 
visers to suit his tastes but George I was obliged to leave 
the reins of government to the Whig Party that had 
made him king; and so he asked Robert Walpole to form 
a cabinet and carry on the government for him and Wal- 
pole did so, not only serving through George I's reign 
but also through the greater part of George IPs longer 
reign (1727-1760). 



58 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

142. Was George II more of a king than his father? 

Ans. George II, who came to the throne in his forties 
and could speak only broken English, was every inch a 
soldier and preferred war to peace, but he left politics 
to Walpole, or, rather, George's wife controlled him and 
she was controlled by Walpole, whom the king disliked. 
George II was the last English sovereign who ever led an 
English force in war. 

143. Was there much fighting in George IPs reign? 
Ans. England had four wars on her hands during 

George's thirty- three years; the War of Jenkins' Ear with 
Spain (1739); the War of the Austrian Succession when 
England defended Maria Theresa, the Empress, against 
the attacks of France, Prussia and Spain; the War in 
India where Clive, a clerk in the East India Company's 
employ, defeated the French at Arcot (1751) and the 
Surajah of Calcutta at Plassey (1757), winning an eastern 
empire which Britain has maintained ever since ; the French 
and Indian War in America by which all Canada and New 
France east of the Mississippi was acquired. 

144. What was the War of Jenkins' Ear? 

Ans. Jenkins, an English sea captain, was sailing the 
Spanish Main, very likely seeking plunder, when his 
ship was held up by a Spanish man-of-war and 
searched, but nothing wrong was found. The insolent 
Spaniards then tore off an ear, and told him to present it 
to his king with their compliments. Jenkins pocketed his 
ear and his wrath and on return to England strode into 
the House of Commons, threw his ear on the Speaker's 
table and told his story. War immediately followed. 

145. What were the moral conditions of England in 
George II' s time? 

Ans. The moral conditions of England were very lax. 
" Drunk for a penny; dead drunk for twopence; straw 
and hay free " was a sign frequently displayed in taverns 
and marks most vividly the low levels of living. Attempts 
at reform were met with cries of " No gin, no king." 

146. Were there no reactions from this low state of 
morals? 

Ans. John and Charles Wesley, young Church of 
England clergymen, bewailed the sad plight of England 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 59 

and commenced preaching under the trees, in the fields 
and streets, and started the mighty wave'of Methodism, 
so-called at first in mockery of their new methods. This 
wholesome religious reform among the lower classes 
swept over both England and the colonies. The Wesleys 
and their able co-worker, George Whitefield, preached 
from New England to Georgia and twenty thousand 
people are said to have gathered on Boston Common to 
hear Whitefield. 

147. How did George III differ from his predecessors 
of the House of Hanover? 

Ans. George III, grandson of George II, was born and 
reared in England and was proud of it. He was thoroughly 
patriotie, a good husband and father, a wholesome man, 
but stubborn and not tactful or long-sighted. His mother 
had urged him to " be a king, George ", and he grew up 
with the determination to be king in fact as well as name. 
By bribery and the efforts of his friends in Parliament 
he caused England to lose the brightest gem in her coronet 
of colonies, the United States. He was throughout his 
reign subject to mental derangement and during the last 
ten years of his long reign of sixty years, the longest in 
English history save Victoria's, he was hopelessly insane 
and his son, afterwards George IV, acted as regent. 

148. What else besides the American Revolution 
distinguished George Ill's long reign? 

Axs. George Ill's long reign was not distinguished for 
literary excellence, especially during its first fifty years, 
but much advance was made in practical and industrial 
lines. The Age of Steam began with Watt's invention 
of the steam engine in 1769 and this was followed by 
spinning jennies and power looms until the whole Lan- 
cashire region blazed with the fires of new factories of 
every kind. 

149. Were not the new economic conditions conducive 
to new social problems? 

Ans. Much social unrest and evil accompanied the 
rapid employment of machinery. Weavers could now 
obtain only a few shillings a week for their hand labor. 
Children were kept underground day and night to open 
and shut doors for coal cars to run through; operatives 



60 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

were housed in herds regardless of sex and sanitary con- 
ditions, and other materialistic views of life were so upper- 
most that finally the recruiting sergeants for the Napole- 
onic wars declared they could not find enough men of the 
standard army height, people were so stunted by the new 
ways of living. 

150. Were there other important wars during George 
Ill's reign besides the American Revolution? 

Ans. The great war with Napoleon settled at Waterloo 
by the Duke of Wellington, aided by the Germans under 
Blucher, and the second war with the United States, both 
ending in the year 1814-1815. 

151. Did George IV have any distinguishing traits? 

Ans. George IV was called the First Gentleman of 
Europe on account of his taste in dress and manners, but 
he was cold, heartless, and extravagant. He ill-treated 
his wife, who was his cousin Caroline, and caused her 
early death; his debts were enormous; the crown jewels 
were pawned to provide for the ceremony of coronation 
and his ten years of reign from 1820 to 1830 were not very 
distinguished. Scott's Waverley Novels were one re- 
deeming feature of the time. 

152. Who succeeded the four Georges? 

Ans. William IV, brother of George the Fourth, 
reigned from 1830 to 1837. He was called the Sailor King 
as he had been brought up in the British navy and possessed 
the hearty, open ways of a sailor, very different from his 
fastidious, cynical brother. 

153. What is the greatest event of William IV's short 
reign? 

Ans. The passage of the Reform Bill of 1832 is one of 
the greatest events of modern English history. Up to 
this time the representation in Parliament was anything 
but democratic. In some places only the Mayor and 
Aldermen were the constituted voters for parliamentary 
members; individuals controlled the vote in other towns 
that had become much depopulated. In old Sarum the 
owner of an old apple tree, on a bleak hillside from which 
all inhabitants had disappeared, held two seats in Parlia- 
ment, while many of the new towns and cities had no 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 61 

representatives. Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Shef- 
field, Liverpool and other products of the new industrial 
regime were entirely unknown in Parliament. At last 
a bill was put through the Commons taking away the 
representation from over thirty " rotten boroughs " 
and givipig it to as many or more new ones. This the 
Lords refused to sanction until Earl Grey obtained the 
king's authority to create enough new peers to overcome 
the opposition, beginning with the sons of present peers. 
This put a check on the Lords, who by absence or not 
voting allowed the bill to pass rather than to be humiliated 
by their more progressive sons. 

154. When did Victoria come to the throne and whose 
daughter was she? 

Ans. In 1837 Victoria, eighteen years old and daughter 
of Edward, Duke of Kent, 'the brother of the two previous 
rulers, began her long reign of sixty-three years, the 
longest and one of the most conspicuous in English history. 

155. What is the first event of mark in Victoria's reign? 

Ans. Her marriage in 1840 at the age of twenty-one 
to her cousin Albert of Saxe-Coburg, Germany, who had 
recently completed his studies. It proved a very happy 
marriage, the prince consort being a scholar and a gentle- 
man of refinement, much interested in educational, 
musical and artistic matters. 

156. Were there many wars in Victoria's reign? 

Ans. Not many important wars marred the great 
material, commercial, literary and ethical progress of this 
distinguished reign. The Crimean War in 1854-1855, 
where England and France helped Turkey against Russia; 
the Sepoy Rebellion of the native troops in India; the war 
in Egypt where Chinese Gordon met death at Khartoum, 
and the Boer War, which quite possibly shortened the 
aged queen's last days, are the most prominent. 

157. Of the innumerable steps of progress in Victoria's 
reign which are the most remarkable? 

Ans. The researches of Darwin and Wallace resulting 
in two independent statements of the laws of natural 
selection and evolution and the Age of Electricity, dating 
from the laying of the Atlantic cable in 1866, are as revo- 
lutionary in their results as any. 



62 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

158. What are a few of the most conspicuous names 
that adorn this longest reign of England's rulers besides 
those of Wallace and Darwin? 

Ans. In poetry William Wordsworth, poet laureate, 
who died, in 1850 at eighty years of age, belongs more to 
the earlier reigns of the century, but his successors, Tenny- 
son and Robert Browning, are prominently Victorian. 
In statesmen, Gladstone, thrice Whig prime minister and 
dubbed England's Grand Old Man, and his Tory rival, 
Disraeli, Lord Beaconsfield, a Jew, twice prime minister, 
outshine all others. Lords Wolseley, Roberts and Kitch- 
ener are the leading warriors; Macaulay and Carlyle, 
historians and essayists; while Dickens, Thackeray and 
George Eliot were eminent novelists. 

159. What crowning sign of England's power and 
progress marked the closing years of Victoria's reign? 

Ans. In 1897, The Queen's Diamond Jubilee marked 
the unprecedented growth of the empire in one reign. 
Representative statesmen and troops from all parts of the 
empire attended. Victoria's rank as Empress of India 
was emphasized by long lines of Indian troops and gayly 
comparisoned elephants. 

160. What were the distinguishing features of Edward 
VII's brief reign? 

Ans. Edward VII, eldest son of Victoria, was about 
sixty years of age when he ascended the throne in 1901. 
He had been considered rather too much given to sport 
and high stakes at bridge while Prince of Wales, and it 
was somewhat common to predict that democratic Eng- 
land would support no more monarchs after Victoria; but 
Edward proved a very popular and effective ruler. By 
personal visits and tactful diplomacy he won a close 
alliance with France and Russia, long estranged, kept the 
peace with his forceful nephew, William II of Prussia, 
closed up the Boer War, and fully earned his title of the 
"Peacemaker." 

161. Who is the present King of England? 

Ans. George V who came to the throne upon the death 
of his father Edward VII, May 6, 1910. 

162. What were the causes of the present World's War? 
The causes were far reaching and complicated. The 

spark which started the conflagration was the assassina- 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 63 

tion on June 28, 1914, by a Servian student of the heir 
to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand and 
his wife at Sarajevo, the capital of the Austrian province 
of Bosnia. Austria claimed that the act was the direct 
result of the hostile attitude of the Servian government, 
and made eleven demands on Servia, formulating means 
to be employed by Servia to prevent further propagation 
of anti- Austrian feeling, and to punish all persons, dismiss 
from public service any officers, and suppress any society 
or publication that in any way fostered such propaganda. 
Nine of the demands were accepted fully; one, condition- 
ally, and the remaining one, ' demanding that representa- 
tives of Austria-Hungary assist Servia in the execution 
of the punishments and take part in the judicial pro- 
ceedings, was refused. Servia claimed that this was a 
violation of her sovereignty and contrary to her consti- 
tution, but offered to arbitrate it. 

July 28, 1914, Austria declared war on Servia. 

163. What was the next step? 

Russia, as the head of the Pan-Slavic movement (or 
close association of all Slavic nations), warned Austria 
that an attack on Servia would not be viewed with indif- 
ference, as she considered her interests as identical with 
those of Servia, that she would mobilize her troops the 
day Austria attacked Servia. 

July 29, 1914, Russia mobilized her troops. 

164. What was Germany's attitude? 

As an ally of Austria-Hungary and Italy, a coalition 
known as the Triple Alliance, Germany gave notice to the 
world that she would not allow interference with Austria 
in her effort to chastise Servia. She demanded that 
Russian mobilization cease. Of France, she asked what 
would be her attitude in the event of a Russo-German 
war. Replies to these demands were not satisfactory. 

August 1, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia. 

August 2, 1914, Germany violated the neutrality of Luxem- 
burg in order to attack France the better. 

August 3, 1914, Germany invaded Belgium and declared 
war on Belgium and France. 

165. What was England's attitude? 

England, which with France and Russia had formed 
a coalition known as the " Triple Entente," (" entente " 



64 HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

meaning " agreement "), suggested a conference of nations 
interested, but Germany refused. Failing in this she 
called to Germany's attention the guarantee by Germany, 
England and France to respect the neutrality of Belgium 
and warned Germany that this treaty would oblige 
England to oppose Germany, if the latter persisted in 
crossing Belgium. It was this stand which caused von 
Bethmann-Hollweg, German Chancellor, to say: " Just 
for a word — ' neutrality ' — just for a scrap of paper, 
Great Britain is going to make war on a kindred nation." 
August 4, 1914, England declared war on Germany. 

166. What were some of the underlying causes which 
the Servian assassination simply brought to a crisis? 

Racial antipathies and aspirations between Slav ar.d 
Teuton; commercial and naval rivalries between Germany 
and England. England, because of her dependence upon 
her colonies and the outside world for both food and a 
market for her manufactures, felt called upon to build 
two war vessels for every one that Germany built. In 
Germany's treaty "with Turkey and her attempt to build 
a Berlin-Bagdad railway, England feared a move to attack 
her East Indian possessions heretofore protected by her 
control of the Suez Canal. 

The question of Alsace-Lorraine between Germany 
and France. This territory had been taken from Germany 
by France in 1675 and recovered by Germany in 1871. 
Expecting attempts by France to recover it Germany 
maintained an army and navy equal to cope with any 
with which France might attack. Germany claimed 1 .her 
" Place in the Sun," meaning that she was overshadowed 
by France and England and that her opportunities for 
colonial expansion and commercial advance had been 
hampered. This contention seemed to be sustained by 
the barring of Germany from Morocco by France, and 
England's open support of France in the matter. The 
enormous territorial expansion of Russia in all directions 
(as shown in the History of Russia in this series) and her 
almost inexhaustible resources in the way of soldiers, 
Germany also felt to be a menace; and by the alliance 
between Russia, England, and France she believed tha 
her existence was threatened. 



